Save Me
by ijustkeepswimming
Summary: Charlie Buckton is fifteen and struggling with new motherhood when her family up and move to Summer Bay where, of course, she's on course to meet Joey Collins...
1. Chapter 1

_Hello, lovely people. Welcome to my new story. This is a bit different, I guess, although I hope none of my stories are the same! We arrive in Summer Bay when Charlie and Joey are fifteen. They are also strangers. And Charlie is trying to be a good mother to Ruby but struggling terribly. This is a Charlie/Joey story but it's also very centred around Ruby. Maybe this is what could have been. I hope you like it. As ever, the first chapter is quite short but it'll increase in length. I've written eighteen chapters so far and I will post between Interwoven and Somebody, Anybody, You in future. Love, IJKS xx_

**Save Me**

**Chapter One**

Fifteen year-old Charlie Buckton was hiding in her new bedroom. She busied herself with unpacking her things and trying to make the place look pretty. It would take a lot of work and if she was really being honest, she didn't have much of an inclination. But it was what she was meant to do. She felt like she lived her life now doing what she was meant to do. It was so hard to keep up with life's duties now. It was tiring and she felt like she couldn't breathe. She paused when she heard the baby crying. Her heart sank and she waited, hoping that her mother or father would go to her. Ruby was three months old now. Charlie loved her but she couldn't cope. Every time she looked at her, she just saw _him_ and the thought of him made her sick. Ruby continued to cry. Sighing, Charlie put her box down and threaded her way over to her daughter's bedroom. Trembling, she looked over the top of the cot. Ruby wailed and waved her arms. She kicked her legs and looked distressed. Charlie's heart went out to her but she was frozen in place. She knew she was meant to be picking her up, cuddling her and comforting her but she couldn't. She just leant over the cot and watched, fighting tears.

* * *

The sun was warm and the air was fresh as Joey Collins walked down the beach in bare feet. She liked the feel of the sand between her toes and the solitude of the life she lived. Her parents were at home watching television but being such an outdoorsy girl, Joey had escaped as soon as she could. Looking out at the sea comforted her and made her feel safe. Looking ahead of her, she saw a few people she went to school with mucking around. They weren't friends. Joey didn't really have any friends. Once upon a time, she had, but life had conspired against her and she'd lost them. Now, she was very much a loner, observing life around her instead of really living it. She didn't really mind though. The likes of the kids ahead of her, Angelo, Belle, Leah, Roman, Martha and Jack, all seemed rather shallow. All they cared about was having fun and making a nuisance of themselves. It just wasn't her world. She sat down on the ground and returned her gaze to the water, breathing in and out in time with the waves.

* * *

Downstairs in the disordered lounge, Ross and Sandra Buckton exchanged glances. They'd heard Ruby crying but resisted hurrying up there. They wanted their daughter to deal with her. They wanted her to step up and be the mother she was meant to be. But as their grandchild continued to cry, they sighed. Ross volunteered to go up and see to her. He paused in the doorway when he realised that Charlie was there but not doing anything.

"She needs you to pick her up," he said gently.

Charlie jumped and turned round.

"I know!" she snapped. "I just got here."

Still shaking and aware of her father's gaze, Charlie reached down and picked Ruby up. The tot continued to grizzle but eventually began to quieten her down as Charlie held her close. The teenager's heart was racing as she held her. She worried that she wasn't holding her right. She was afraid of dropping her. She was afraid that they would never love each other.


	2. Chapter 2

_I am posting an extra chapter for the lovely Tubs 14. Your extra review really cheered me after the horrible review from Boo for Interwoven. You're ever so lovely to send another message after that. It made me smile. And thanks to everyone who trusts me enough to know that of course I'm not going to leave it there! I've written the next ten chapters of Interwoven. Charlie and Joey WILL stay together and they WILL get through what I have thrown at them this time around. I'm sure it would all get very boring if there was no drama. Anyway, here is the next chapter of Save Me – with a big, big, thank you to Tubs and to everyone else who has offered nice responses to Interwoven. I love you guys! IJKS xx_

**

* * *

**

Chapter Two

Monday arrived too quickly for Charlie's liking. Dressed in her school uniform, she waited around for her father to drive her in for her first day. Sandra worked from home as a masseuse so she was there to look after Ruby until Charlie got home from school, although still it seemed that even when Charlie was there, it was impossible for her to take care of her daughter. Both Ross and Sandra wished that Charlie could shake herself out of her pain and be the mother they knew she could be. It broke their hearts to see their child suffering so much. The whole reason they had moved to Summer Bay was to start a new life away from the city, from people who might judge her and of course, that boy who had destroyed her life. It had taken everything Ross had within him not to charge ahead and kill the monster who had raped his daughter. But he'd left him alone, cared for Charlie during her stressful pregnancy and tried to help her come to terms with her situation. The hope now was that they could start again in this town but a change was yet to be seen.

* * *

Joey arrived at school and headed straight to her locker. The usual hustle and bustle of the other students flowed around her. Once upon a time, she had been part of it but she didn't fit in anymore. Nobody knew why she'd changed personality so suddenly. And she never wanted anyone to find out. She was happy to get along and do her own thing. She got the odd bit of hassle but she was skilled at tuning it out. She grabbed her books and headed to class when the bell rang. Sinking into a seat in the back, Joey opened up her notebook and watched her teacher, Miles Copeland at the front of the class. The rest of the students piled in. Joey sat up a little straighter when she saw a new girl enter the room. She made herself known to Miles and then scanned the room for a seat. Joey's heart raced a little as she headed in her direction. She sat in the seat beside her and smiled politely.

"Hi," the girl said awkwardly.

"Hi," Joey managed.

Their attention was caught by Miles as he began to start the lesson. Within minutes Miles was instructing them to turn to chapter twelve of the book they were reading. Charlie sighed. She didn't have a book.

"You can share mine," the girl beside her offered.

Charlie smiled gratefully at her and they nudged their chairs a little closer together so they could both see.

At lunch time, Joey was at her locker. She spotted Charlie further down the corridor. The new girl was beautiful and she seemed very nice, if a little shy. Closing her locker, she headed over and forced herself to ask her to lunch.

"Oh," Charlie said, startled. "I'd love to but... I... I have to go home for lunch."

"Okay," Joey said, remaining cheerful but turning away. "It was just an idea. Don't worry about it."

"Thank you though," Charlie said. "It was really nice of you to ask."

Joey turned back and smiled at her.

"Maybe another time."

"Hey," said a male voice.

Both girls turned to see the school bully, Robert Cruze walking past them with his friends, including Joey's big brother, Brett.

"I wouldn't get too close to her," Robbo said. "I hear lesbianism is infectious."

He walked off laughing. Charlie turned back to Joey who immediately backed away, afraid that she might get the wrong idea and think she was asking for a date or something. Charlie was definitely beautiful but she had genuinely wanted to be her friend. She left without another word, leaving Charlie confused as she trudged back home to grab a sandwich and tend to the baby, the latter of which still felt impossible.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Charlie arrived home and made polite conversation with her mother before forcing herself to go and see Ruby who was in her travel cot that they kept downstairs in the lounge for during the day. She looked down at him and tried to galvanise the inclination to hold her. The baby looked up at her with big eyes full of wonder and intrigue. Sandra appeared behind her daughter with a bottle of milk.

"She's due a feed," she said.

Charlie reluctantly accepted the bottle and nodded when her mother said she would make her a sandwich for lunch. With trembling hands, Charlie lifted Ruby out of the cot. Ruby smiled at her and touched her face with warm, chubby, little fingers. A knot formed in Charlie's stomach as she sat down with her and held her close and attempted to feed her. Ruby latched onto the bottle happily and Charlie attempted to relax as she held her daughter. In the doorway, Sandra watched the scene and smiled, hoping that perhaps Charlie was starting to find some kind of way forward now.

* * *

Joey skipped lunch and headed out to the beach for some fresh air and alone time with the waves. Water made her feel calm and she needed that after half a day of school. Once upon a time, Joey had been one of the most popular girls at school and then a couple of years back, her whole life had changed. Now, she generally relied on her own company and she kept trying to convince herself that she preferred it that way. She knew she didn't. And she knew that was partly the reason that she had honed in on the new girl. It had also been a natural thing for her to do – to share her book with someone who didn't have one. Being new to school couldn't be easy and she hoped that someone being friendly might help her. But also, she hoped for a friend. The life she had led with the likes of Belle and Aden, Martha and Jack and Angelo was long over.

* * *

"How was school?" Sandra asked.

Ruby remained on Charlie's lap while Charlie and Sandra ate their lunch together. Charlie was rigid in her chair, obviously uncomfortable with the situation but she tried not to fail her child.

"It was okay," she said. "I think I made a friend. Maybe."

"Oh?"

"Her name's Joey," Charlie explained. "She shared her book with me."

"That's nice," Sandra told her.

Charlie nodded and took another bite of her sandwich. Ruby tried to reach for it, wanting to explore and play. Charlie tensed. She was ashamed to have no idea how to interact with her daughter.

"Did you tell her about...?" Sandra asked, nodding toward Ruby who smiled happily at her grandmother.

"No," Charlie snapped, wishing that she could have just one conversation with her parents that didn't involve around Ruby. "She just shared her book with me, Mum. I'm not about to pour my heart out to her."

"I was only asking," Sandra snapped.

She and Charlie had similar fiery tempers, as did Ross. Ruby wouldn't stand a chance at being chilled out when she was older.

"Well, don't!" Charlie said.

Ruby made a grab for her sandwich and sent it crashing to the floor. Irritated, Charlie stood and handed her over to her mother.

"Charlie!" Sandra called.

Grabbing a packet of crisps from the cupboard, Charlie left the house without saying goodbye.

* * *

Joey stood and began to walk along the sand in the general direction of school. She wanted to prolong lunch time as much as she could and was sure life was too short to be stuck in a classroom studying things she had no real interest in. Looking ahead of her, Joey paused. The new girl was huddled on the beach by herself.

"You know, if you didn't want to have lunch with me, you just needed to say," Joey said.

Charlie looked up at her uncertainly.

"Sorry?"

Joey came and sat beside her.

"If you didn't want lunch, you didn't need to say you had other plans," Joey said. "I wouldn't have been offended."

"Oh! Oh, no, I did. I did go home," Charlie explained with a hint of apology in her voice. "But then I came here."

She blushed.

"Obviously."

Joey smiled and nodded.

"Okay," she said.

Charlie offered her the packet of crisps she was munching. Joey accepted and took one.

"You can have more than one, you know," Charlie said, leaning into her a little.

Joey grinned and took a couple more.

"So, how come you moved here?" Joey asked, gazing out at the waves ahead of them.

"My Dad's a Detective," Charlie said. "He got a transfer."

It was sort of true. He Dad _was _a Detective. But he'd requested the transfer because he and his family needed to get away. Charlie had hidden away for her entire pregnancy but when she'd returned to school, people had asked questions. The last thing they had wanted was for Grant Bledcoe, the father of Charlie's baby, to find out that he had a daughter.

"Oh, really?" Joey asked, turning back to her. "My Dad's a cop too. They must be working together."

Charlie smiled.

"They must be," she said. "Cool."

Joey continued to smile at her. Charlie smiled back.

"My Dad wants me to follow in his footsteps," Joey admitted. "I'm not convinced."

"I want to be a cop," Charlie revealed. "I like the idea of helping people who are lost and frightened. I like the idea of helping bring about justice."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The end of the week rolled around quickly and when the bell rang on Friday afternoon, Charlie and Joey made their way to their lockers together. They had seen a fair bit of each other during classes, although Charlie had disappeared every lunch time and she hurried home right after school. She was very private about her life and Joey still wasn't sure if there was a friendship there. Charlie hung around with other people as much as she did with her, so she figured the chances were that she would find her feet and ditch her soon enough. She hoped it might not happen. She'd become quite attached, which was surprising when she barely knew her. But the cool crowd were definitely interested in a new recruit and Joey knew as well as anyone, the pull that that kind of gang had.

"Hey, Charlie," she ventured. "Would you like to hang out at the weekend or something?"

She felt nervous about asking. It almost felt like she was asking her out on a date or something. They'd got a lot of comments throughout the week about Joey being gay but Charlie hadn't seemed to register them. She didn't seem to care. All she'd said was that Joey must have been very brave to come out in high school. Joey had remarked that she hadn't so much come out voluntarily but happened to fall out of the closet instead.

"Oh," Charlie replied, as if surprised. "Yeah. Maybe. Sure."

"I could give you my number?" Joey suggested.

Charlie nodded and pulled her phone out of her pocket in order to make the exchange. She hoped she would get to text or call her. Joey had been so nice all week and they got on really well. She was desperate to make even just one friend and she thought Joey might be it. But she worried. With Ruby to look after and the mess her head was in, she didn't think she'd be the most available person in the world and she thought even Joey would get bored or frustrated with her. Joey smiled and said she'd call her at the weekend and the two girls walked out together.

"Hey, Charlie!" a female voice called.

The new girl turned to fine Belle Taylor, her boyfriend Aden Jeffries and their friends, Angelo Rosetta and Roman Harris standing there.

"There's a beach party tomorrow night if you want to come," Belle said. "Leave the lesbian behind though."

Joey didn't react but she was immediately disappointed. If the cool kids were asking Charlie to socialise with them and Joey was asking the same thing, somehow she doubted that Charlie would choose her.

"Thanks," Charlie said.

She had no intention of rejecting Joey but it felt nice to be invited. And kicking back at a party instead of dealing with a baby she could barely look at, sounded very appealing. She turned and continued to walk out with Joey in silence.

* * *

Arriving home, Joey headed up to her room to get changed out of her school uniform. She and Charlie had walked part way home together, which had been nice. She hoped that she might get to hang out with her the following day, although she decided not to hold her breath. Mostly, Joey was glad that the week was over. She had a tonne of homework to do of course but usually, she took it down to the beach so that she could enjoy the sunshine at the same time. Heading downstairs in jeans and a black sleeveless top, Joey headed into the kitchen to make a snack. She froze when her brother, Brett and his best friend Robbo charged through the door, deep in discussion.

"Make us a drink," Brett told her.

She pulled a face and told him to make his own.

"Women!" Brett commented.

Joey dodged out of the way as they came towards her and scampered upstairs with her food. She just hoped that Brett and Robbo would go to the party and be out of her hair for the evening. She'd never liked Robbo and she hated him now.

* * *

Charlie arrived home to Ruby wailing.

"Oh!" Ross said when he saw her. "I was just about to go up to her but you can now you're home."

"I just got in!" Charlie protested, dumping her bag on the floor.

"You are her mother, Charlie."

She glared at him.

"You don't need to keep reminding me," she snapped. "I do know."

She headed up the stairs to see to her daughter who had obviously just woken from her nap. Entering the room, she approached the cot and as usual, struggled to reach out to her. She turned the mobile on, hoping that it would distract Ruby from her tears. Momentarily it did but then she began crying again. She wanted love and affection. Charlie felt her heart break as sobbing Ruby gazed up at her, arms flailing and reaching up. Taking a deep breath, Charlie reached in and held her. She cuddled her close and felt her snuggle into her. Gazing down at the beautiful child in her arms, Charlie sank into a chair. She gave her the little finger that she so loved to hold, pull and chew.

"Why can't I be the Mum you need me to be?" Charlie wondered aloud.

She surprised herself by bursting into tears.

"I want to," she said. "So much. I hope you know that."

Ruby continued to play with Charlie's hands.

"I do love you. I can't seem to show you but I do. I love you. I just... it's so hard."

She cuddled her closer than she ever had before and sobbed, feeling suddenly inconsolable.


	5. Chapter 5

_This is for JB whose review made me smile! The Diner is on Hove seafront. It's called Woodies and it's awesome!_

_And on a more random note... I now appear to have three pets – Ruby, Joey and Charlie. Ruby (cat) was pre-named before I knew such a character existed on Home and Away. Joey (hamster) was on purpose. And then I acquired a homeless hamster and was convinced by some CJ fans to call him Charlie. So, now I have a set. Kinda sad but it is most amusing to sit here and write fic while Charlie and Joey chase each other around in the balls trying to hump each other and use themselves as bowling balls to attack poor Ruby and chase her around the house! Just thought I'd share._

_Anyway, on with the chapter... Love, IJKS xx_

**

* * *

**

Chapter Five

The following morning brought with it bright sunshine and Charlie woke to a text from Joey asking if she would like to go for lunch that afternoon. She'd woken up several times in the night and early in the morning to Ruby crying but as usual, she had managed to ignore her for long enough that her parents went to see to her. Still sleepy, she texted back that she would love to and they arranged to meet at the Diner at noon. Forcing herself out of bed, Charlie padded downstairs and into the lounge. Her parents were on the floor with her daughter, playing peek-a-boo.

"Morning," Ross said.

"Morning," Charlie said, yawning.

"Why on earth are you tired?" Sandra asked. "You weren't up all night with her, were you?"

"Sorry," Charlie said. "I must have not heard her."

She knew that she was lying but she figured that her parents thought she was a lousy mother anyway so that wouldn't make it any worse really.

"What are you plans for today?" Ross asked.

"I'm going out to lunch with a friend," Charlie replied.

"Oh, that'll be nice," Sandra said pleasantly. "It'll be good for Ruby to see the Bay."

Charlie froze.

"What?" she squeaked.

"Well, you are taking your daughter with you, aren't you?" Sandra asked, knowing full well that Charlie had no intention to do any such thing.

"Well, I..."

"Your father and I have plans today," Sandra said. "If you're going out then you need to take Ruby with you."

"But..."

Charlie trailed off in defeat.

* * *

Joey arrived at the Diner at noon and waited outside for Charlie, as arranged. She had wondered if her new friend would accept the invitation and had been pleased that she had. Lying in bed the night before, Joey had come to a horrific realisation that she found Charlie attractive. She had been shocked and upset about it. It had been a long time ago that she had determined never to be with anybody and had worked hard at not being attracted to anyone around her. It was a little scary that Charlie had broken through her determination and it unnerved her. She wanted to be Charlie's friend. She hadn't had a friend for such a long time and she didn't want lesbianism to wreck it.

* * *

Charlie was still unhappy as she pushed Ruby in her pram towards the Diner. She had begged and pleaded with her parents to take Ruby with them but they had insisted. The more that time passed and the less able Charlie felt to be her mother, the more frustrated Ross and Sandra were with her. It was heartbreaking. Spotting Joey up ahead, Charlie took a deep breath and headed over. Joey pushed herself off the wall and approached.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," Charlie replied.

"Who's this?" Joey wondered, moving to gaze into the pram.

Ruby beamed up at her and Joey beamed back.

"This is Ruby," Charlie said.

Joey cooed over her and said hello. Ruby gurgled in response.

"Is she your sister?" Joey asked, turning to Charlie who froze and then nodded.

It wasn't exactly a lie. She hadn't said the words. Joey had just made assumptions.

"She's beautiful," Joey said.

"She is," Charlie agreed with a smile. "I hope you don't mind me coming laden. My parents are busy for the day so..."

"That's fine," Joey said pleasantly. "She's super cute."

Charlie grinned and began to relax a little. Joey led the way and Charlie pushed Ruby towards the Diner ready to have lunch.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Joey and Charlie were seated and had ordered their meals from Colleen. Charlie had reluctantly taken Ruby out of her pram and was holding her in her lap, letting her sit up against her and looked out at the world around them. Joey's chatter was regularly interrupted by her cooing over the baby. Charlie found it adorable but it was mixed with grief that she couldn't feel the same way.

"Do you want to hold her?" Charlie offered.

Joey's whole face lit up and she reached out to accept Ruby who went happily into her embrace. Joey sat her on her lap and cuddled her, kissing the top of her head and chattered away to her telling her that she was beautiful. Charlie watched with affection.

"You're really good with her," she said.

Joey looked up and smiled.

"I hardly know what to do with her," Charlie admitted, deciding that it was probably okay to say so considering Joey thought they were just siblings.

"I have about a thousand cousins," Joey explained. "So I'm used to babies."

She smiled happily.

"Do you have any siblings?" Charlie asked.

Joey frowned.

"You know the guy that hangs out with Robbo Cruze?" she said.

Charlie nodded.

"That's Brett. My older brother."

"But he's so mean to you!" Charlie exclaimed.

Joey shrugged and focussed her attention on Ruby.

"Not like sibling mean," Charlie said fretfully. "But proper, bullying, cruel."

Joey nodded. Colleen approached with their lunches. She fussed over the baby for a moment before moving away. Joey handed Ruby back to Charlie who quickly put her back in her pram.

* * *

After lunch, the girls went for a walk. Charlie froze when Ruby began to complain.

"Is someone jealous that we had nice, hefty meals without her?" Joey said to the baby.

Relieved to be given some clue as to what Ruby wanted, Charlie opened up the bag that she nearly hadn't packed. She'd been heading out with just Ruby when her mother had reminded her that to take a child that young out and about you needed bottles and nappies and all sorts. Parking themselves on a bench, Charlie awkwardly took Ruby into her arms and began to feed her a bottle. Joey sat beside her, gazing between the sea, Charlie and Ruby.

"You're lucky to have a baby sister," she said. "I'd definitely trade Brett in for Ruby!"

Charlie chuckled and forced the tension out of her arms. She didn't want Joey to see how uncomfortable she was. She didn't want Ruby to sense anything and reject her.

"She's a bit of a handful," she said. "Very demanding."

"That's babies for you, I guess," Joey said. "They can demand the world of you and turn your life upside down but the moment you get a smile from them, all is forgiven."

On cue, Ruby smiled and milk dribbled down her chin.

"See!" Joey explained. "Adorable."


	6. Chapter 6

_If my least favourite goes in Big Brother tonight then you can have the next chapter of Somebody, Anybody, You. For now, here is Save Me! There's not a whole lot of CJ interaction but I hope you like it anyway. Things will get much more interesting in chapter seven. Love, IJKS xx_

**Chapter Six**

It was late afternoon when Charlie and Ruby said goodbye to Joey and headed home. And it had been the first nice day with her baby that Charlie had really had. She'd had moments in the past of course but today, they had almost bonded. In order to keep up appearances, Charlie had fed her and cuddled her and talked to her and it really hadn't been so bad. And Joey had been amazing with her. She'd played with her and cooed over her and seemed eager to see her again, to see them both again, although Charlie did feel a little guilty that her friend still thought she and Ruby were siblings. Still, she supposed she could explain later. There was no hurry for the truth now. She was only settling into the Bay after all.

* * *

Joey headed home with her mind full of babies. Ruby had been adorable and it had been wonderful to spend time with her. She was grateful that Charlie had been willing to let her hold her and help take care of her. But her happiness was combined with sadness at the thought of her own loss and what might have been. She wondered if she would ever recover from the tragedy of her life, even though it happened two long years ago.

* * *

Ross and Sandra were surprised to find Charlie entering the house with Ruby after so many hours and looking so cheerful. They had expected her to be back within minutes and had even spent time debating whether to tell her that they had lied about going out or not.

"Did you have a good day?" Ross asked hopefully.

Charlie nodded and bent to collect a dozing Ruby from her pram. Her heart pounded in that too familiar way but she held her child firmly in her arms and sat down with her. Her parents didn't even think to disguise their surprise.

"What did you get up to?" Sandra asked after a few moments.

"We went to lunch with Joey and then for a walk along the beach."

"And what did Joey say about you having a baby daughter?" Sandra asked.

Charlie froze. Her parents read her mind and looked disappointed.

"She just assumed..." Charlie said defensively.

"You should have corrected her," Ross said sternly.

"I will," Charlie said. "Just give me time."

"You've had a year to get your head around this," her mother pointed out. "Ruby's three months old now."

Immediately crestfallen, Charlie stood and handed Ruby over, snapping that she would never get her head around being raped, before she stormed up to her room.

* * *

Joey crept up to her bedroom quietly. Brett and Robbo were playing video games in the lounge and she had no desire to disturb them. Sinking onto her bed, she pictured Charlie. The teenager was so beautiful, more beautiful than anyone Joey had ever seen in real life. And she was nice. When she relaxed, she was funny. But she seemed to have the weight of the world on her shoulders a lot of the time and Joey couldn't help but worry about her and hope that she was okay.

* * *

The music at the beach party was loud when Charlie arrived. She had ignored her parents and Ruby for the rest of the day and then sneaked out after dinner undetected. Standing on the sand, she scanned the area in front of her and was relieved when she saw Belle and her friends sitting down near the surf. She wished that Joey was part of this group and had been invited to the party too. She was by far the nicest person she'd met in this town so far and she really enjoyed hanging out with her. The fact that she was so good with Ruby was also a plus. It made her think that perhaps she could eventually tell her the truth and it might not matter. Threading her way over to the group, she said hello to Belle, Aden, Angelo, Roman, Leah, Hugo, Martha and Jack. She didn't know any of them all that well but they seemed okay, despite their dislike of Joey, and Charlie was keen to be friends with them.

"Beer?" Angelo offered cheerfully.

Charlie began to decline and then remembered the disagreement she'd had with her parents. She was more than keen to block that out for a little while and agreed. He offered it up to her and then moved so that she could sit beside him.

* * *

Joey had never coped very well with Robbo in the house so after a few hours, when she'd realised that he wasn't leaving any time soon, she sneaked out and decided to go for a walk. Once upon a time, she had been unsure of walking around alone in the dark, even in Summer Bay, but then she'd realised that bad things happened in the daylight as much as the dark so now she didn't differentiate. Walking past the beach, there was quite obviously a party going on. She wondered if Charlie had shown up. She couldn't help but smile at the mere thought of her.

* * *

Charlie had ventured away from the crowd with Angelo but she felt uneasy about it. She didn't spend alone time with boys anymore if she could help it. Nothing good had ever come of such things as far as she was concerned. But she didn't want to be awkward so she had agreed to go with him to the water's edge and see if they could spot any boats in the distance. Standing beside him, Charlie felt unsure. She yelped when he swooped in and tried to kiss her.

"Come on," he said. "It's fine. I won't bite."

He leant in again and she pushed him firmly away.

"Charlie..." he said.

"I don't want to," she told him. "I don't even know you."

"Well it's a way of getting to know me," he said.

His tone was cheerful and he seemed genuinely surprised that she didn't want to make out with him. Charlie shook her head and hurried back to the group. She sat down between Roman and Martha and avoided eye contact with Angelo who trudged after her.

* * *

Joey found herself in the Surf Club. She played a game of pool by herself and drank a non-alcoholic version of Sex on the Beach. Still she wondered what Charlie was doing. She pictured Ruby and smiled to herself. The baby was definitely a cutie. The resemblance between her and Charlie was already obvious. She wished that she could love her own sibling and hoped that deep down, she did. She just didn't like him.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Roman asked.

Charlie nodded and downed the rest of her beer. She already felt rather tipsy, having drunk five beers that she wasn't used to and a couple of shots. The world was spinning a little and she was struggling to focus.

"I know Angelo was pretty into you..."

"I'm not into him," Charlie said.

"How about me?" Roman wondered, flashing a charming smile.

He leant in to kiss her but she shuffled away, losing her co-ordination and flopping back on the sand. Roman leant over her to pull her back up. She immediately misconstrued what he had intended to do and pushed him away with as much strength as she had. Getting clumsily to her feet and ignoring the way that everyone in the group was looking at her, Charlie began to hurry away. She paused a short way up the beach when she heard someone shout her name. Hugo hurried up to her with a bottle of vodka and asked if she was alright.

"I need to go home," Charlie slurred.

"Are your parents really going to be cool with you being trashed?" Hugo asked.

"I'm not..."

Charlie sighed. She felt dizzy and sick. He offered her the bottle but she refused.

"It'll make you feel better," Hugo said.

Accepting the vodka, Charlie took a large gulp. Her head swam and she fought the urge to vomit.

"I bet I can make you feel even better than that," he said, leaning in a little closer.

She threw the bottle back at him and wobbled away, wondering why any of these guys couldn't just be nice without trying to hit on her.

* * *

Joey left the Surf Club and reluctantly began to head home. She paused when she saw someone giddily leaving the beach. The figure stumbled. Joey rushed over without thinking in order to help her up. She was surprised to find it was Charlie.


	7. Chapter 7

_This has got to be for Blue – thanks for your message and all those lovely reviews! What a lovely thing to wake up to! I hope you all enjoy the chapter. IJKS xx_

**Chapter Seven**

"Charlie!" Joey said when the teenager fell against her, looking rather unwell. "Are you okay?"

"Why, do you want to fuck me too?" Charlie slurred.

Joey looked bewildered and held onto her friend's shoulders, studying her face and feeling concerned.

"What?" she asked. "No. Charlie, what's wrong?"

"I'm drunk!" Charlie announced.

"I can see that," Joey said.

"And them... those guys... they wanted to... they pretended they liked me and they just wanted to fuck me," Charlie said.

She promptly burst into tears. Instinctively, Joey reached out to hold her. For a brief moment, Charlie froze but then surprised herself by feeling safe in Joey's arms. She wept into her shoulder and clung onto her for dear life.

"Charlie, where do you live?" Joey asked. "We need to get you home."

Charlie shook her head. There was no way she could go home. Her parents would kill her. And she was definitely incapable of looking after the baby, not that she ever felt capable when she was sober either.

"Okay, well..." Joey faltered.

Shaking her head made Charlie suddenly dizzy. Before she could move away, she promptly vomited on Joey's shoes.

"Sorry!" she squeaked.

Joey looked appalled but retained hold of Charlie, figuring she would probably fall over if she let her go. Charlie continued to cry and apologise.

"Look, let's go to my place," Joey suggested. "You can sleep it off there."

"You're not going to..." Charlie began to protest.

"I don't want to fuck you," Joey said firmly. "Especially after that!"

Nodding unhappily, Charlie allowed Joey to guide her home.

* * *

After a journey that took double the length it should have, Joey finally got Charlie through the front door and up into her room. She kicked her shoes off and shrugged herself out of her jeans, deciding to wash them later. Then she sat a very wobbly Charlie on the edge of the bed and began to undress her.

"You said you weren't going to..." Charlie protested. "Please... don't hurt me."

Joey hugged her and stroked her face.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Charlie," she promised. "You just... stink. I'll wash your clothes and stick you in the shower and then you can get into a nice pair of PJ's and go to sleep, okay?"

"I don't have PJ's," Charlie said.

Joey hugged her again, thinking that she was absolutely adorable.

"I think I can spare you a pair."

She gently removed the rest of Charlie's clothes and forced herself not to look, before she wrapped a dressing gown around her and hauled her to her feet.

"I don't feel good," Charlie mumbled.

"No kidding," Joey replied.

She was just grateful that Robbo and Brett didn't appear to be home. They had probably gone to the beach party. Her parents were away for the weekend. Locking them in the bathroom, Joey closed the lid of the toilet and sat Charlie on it. She began running the shower and tested the water with her hand. When it was warm enough, she helped Charlie into the cubicle. Underneath the water, Charlie just about managed to wash herself. When she'd thrown up on Joey, she'd thrown up all over herself too and it wasn't a pretty sight. Realising that her drunken friend was struggling with her hair, Joey gave up and stepped into the shower in her t-shirt and pants. She gently rubbed shampoo into Charlie's hair and then helped her wash it out. Turning the water off, she allowed Charlie to fall against her.

"Thank you," Charlie whimpered.

She didn't feel in control of her actions. She knew she was trashed but she didn't seem able to do anything about it and couldn't keep from falling about all over the place. And she had no idea what she would have done if Joey hadn't been around. She would be at the mercy of anyone around her and she was already far too aware that not all people were good. Joey bundled Charlie into the dressing down again and wrapped her hair in a towel before leading her back to the bedroom. Charlie fell back onto the bed, flat on her back and fighting all the symptoms of an early hangover. Joey rummaged around for clean pants and pyjamas, changed out of her now wet clothes and into fresh ones and then set about getting Charlie changed. She tried not to look but even she wasn't immune to the fact that there was a beautiful, naked woman on her bed. While she would never touch or take advantage, she couldn't help but appreciate the view. She was only human after all.

* * *

Half an hour later, Charlie was tucked up in Joey's bed sipping a pint of water on her friend's insistence. She'd taken two aspirin and slowly she was starting to feel a little more coherent although her mind was still fuzzy and confused. Joey had put their dirty clothes in the washing machine and was now perched on the edge of the bed looking worried.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little more human," Charlie said. "Thank you for looking after me."

Joey shrugged and smiled bashfully. Looking after her hadn't been a question. She'd needed help and Joey had automatically provided.

"You can stay the night here," she offered. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"We could share," Charlie suggested.

It was a double bed, after all and there was plenty of room.

"It's okay," Joey said, aware of Charlie's paranoia about her wanting to have sex with her.

"It's fine," Charlie said.

She lifted the blanket and welcomed Joey beneath them. Joey was about to climb in when she remembered their clothes. Excusing herself, she went to put them in the tumble dryer, wanting Charlie to have clean, dry clothes in the morning. Charlie lay back against the pillows with her eyes closed her world still spinning. She opened up when Joey reappeared and a little shyly slipped into bed beside her. They settled down against the pillows side by side, not touching until Charlie felt for Joey's hand.

"What happened to you tonight?" Joey asked.

"Just some guys making passes at me," Charlie said. "It freaked me out a bit."

"Who were they?"

"Angelo, Roman and Hugo."

"Popular!" Joey quipped.

Charlie laughed too and squeezed Joey's hand.

"It scared me," she admitted.

Yawning, sleepiness suddenly overwhelmed her.

"Well, if you're ever in trouble," Joey said. "You can just come and find me."

Charlie smiled and rolled onto her side and she prepared to sleep. Her eyes were closed and she couldn't open them even if she wanted to. She snuggled into Joey and sighed.

"I wish I'd have had you in my life before," she said. "Then I might have been saved."

"Saved?" Joey asked. "What happened?"

"I was raped," Charlie admitted.

Tears filled her closed eyes. Her mouth was running away with her but she suddenly didn't feel inclined to care.

"Ruby's not my sister, you know," she said. "She's my daughter."


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry for the lateness of the update. Blame Drowningnotwaving! The 3D world has become extremely entertaining! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. It's short and hopefully sweet. Love, IJKS xx_

**Chapter Eight**

Charlie woke with a horrible headache. She rolled over and studied Joey's sleeping form beside her. Without any kind of clear memory of what had happened the night before, she immediately panicked. It wasn't lost on her that Joey was extremely attractive but she would have hoped nothing would have happened between them, especially not so soon.

"We just shared a bed," Joey said sleepily.

Charlie looked relieved when Joey opened her eyes and smiled. She was still exhausted, having hardly slept a wink over Charlie's night time revelation.

"What did I do last night?" Charlie wondered.

"Well, to start with, you threw up on my shoes."

The memory flashed through Charlie's mind and she automatically felt guilty and embarrassed.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to. I'll pay for them. I'm really sorry, Joey."

"It's okay," Joey said. "They were old anyway. It just gives me an excuse to convince my folks to buy me new ones!"

She smiled cheerfully. Charlie rested her head in the crook of Joey's arm, resting on her shoulder.

"Thanks for being so good to me," she said. "Letting me stay and everything."

"It's fine," Joey said. "Anyone would have. You were in a terrible state."

"I think most people would be pissed off if someone threw up on them," Charlie pointed out.

"Well, I just brought you home, hosed you off and tucked you in," Joey said dismissively. "I'm hardly a saint."

She moved to get out of bed with the intention of getting them both cups of tea in order to wake up properly.

"Shit!" Charlie suddenly said, making Joey pause at the door.

She turned back worriedly.

"I told you, didn't I?" Charlie asked, sitting up in bed and looking frightened.

Knowing exactly what she was talking about, Joey nodded and came to sit on the edge of the bed. Charlie sank back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Joey reached out and held her hand.

"It's okay," she said gently.

"Only my parents know," Charlie ventured. "Please don't..."

"I won't tell anyone," Joey promised.

Charlie squeezed her hand gratefully.

"I didn't mean to burden you with my problems," she said.

"Don't worry about it," Joey told her. "A problem shared and all that..."

Charlie sighed and shifted into a sitting position.

"I'm struggling with her," she admitted. "I can't bond. It's so hard to..."

She trailed off. Joey came to lie in bed beside her again and pulled her into her arms. Unable to articulate anything, Charlie rested in Joey's embrace for a long time, relieved to have shared her secret. She wept.

* * *

By lunch time, Charlie had told Joey everything. She'd explained about having a boyfriend called Grant and that he had forced himself on her. She hadn't been strong enough to fight him off. He'd brutalised her. She cried while she told the tale and was surprised that Joey cried too. She explained that she hadn't told anyone anything until she missed three periods. She'd turned to her mother, broken down and told her everything. They'd gone to take a pregnancy test or seven and then, with Charlie's pregnancy confirmed, they'd broken the news to Ross who had been just about ready to kill the guy who'd raped his daughter. Once he had calmed down, they had looked into all the options including abortion and adoption but eventually agreed that Charlie would have the baby and keep it. She'd had a terrible pregnancy with a lot of morning sickness and discomfort. She'd stayed away from school and she and her parents had prepared a nursery for their new arrival. But while Charlie had gone through the motions, her heart hadn't really been in it and she had struggled to bond with her baby. She'd hoped that it would all change when Ruby was born, when she had a name and a face and personality. But still, Charlie couldn't bear to hold her. She loved her but she found it almost impossible to be the mother she wanted to be. Joey had held her as she'd explained everything.

"So, that's why you came here?" she asked. "To start again?"

Charlie nodded, still feeling tearful.

"But it's not working," she said.

"Give it time," Joey said gently, stroking her back. "You'll get there."

"I can barely look at her," Charlie said. "I ran out on her and got trashed last night. I just left her to my parents. I..."

"You'll get there," Joey repeated certainly. "I'll help you."

Charlie looked up at her in wonder.

"You will?"

"Of course," Joey said, stroking a strand of hair out of Charlie's eyes. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Charlie smiled and agreed.

"Yes," she said. "We are."

She snuggled back against Joey's warm body.

"I think you're pretty much the best friend I've ever had," she said.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hi everyone. Here is your update for today. And thank you so much to those who went on and read my noel on authonomy. I really appreciate it. You're helping me get noticed! Woo! I hope you enjoy the chapter. And yes, JB, that is my real name! Love IJKS xx_

**Chapter Nine**

True to her word, Joey remained quiet regarding the truth about Charlie and Ruby. After running out on the party and so rudely rejecting the three boys, Belle and her friends had given Charlie a somewhat wide berth. She didn't mind. Joey was the person she cared about. She was the one who understood and cared about her. The two girls began to spend the whole school day together and Charlie was just psyching herself up to invite her new friend round to dinner and to spend some more time with Ruby. At home on Thursday evening, having just about managed to feed the baby, Charlie cleared her throat a little uncertainly. Sandra and Ross looked at her expectantly.

"I was wondering if I could..." she began.

"You're not abandoning your daughter for another weekend," Ross said quickly.

Charlie sighed and tried not to get defensive.

"I was wondering if I could invite Joey round for dinner tomorrow," she said.

Both parents looked surprised.

"What about Ruby?" Sandra asked.

"Joey knows," Charlie explained. "I told her everything a few days ago and she's cool with it. She's actually really good with her. She gets all broody around babies."

She tried to smile.

"Maybe it'll rub off."

Ross couldn't help but smile back. It was the most light hearted Charlie had been for a long time.

"Of course you can invite her," he said.

Charlie beamed at him. Ruby began to wail from her travel cot. Without as much hesitation as normal, Charlie got up to tend to her.

* * *

Joey walked to school on her own as usual the next day. Brett and Robbo always left a little after her. Well, really, she left a little before them in order to avoid them. Opening her locker to get her books, she deliberately hung around in order to wait for Charlie who appeared a few minutes later.

"Hey," Charlie said. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over tonight. For dinner?"

Joey smiled at her. It had been a long time since she'd been sociable with people and she was almost addicted to spending time with Charlie now.

"I'd love to," she said.

"Great!"

"Oh, do you have a date?" Robbo asked Joey from behind her.

Paling, Joey turned around quickly and swallowed. She didn't quite meet his gaze but told him to shut up. He stepped a little closer.

"Make me," he challenged.

Joey closed her locker and hurried away. Charlie chased after her, asking her if she was alright.

* * *

After school, Charlie and Joey walked back to Charlie's house together.

"How's Ruby?" Joey asked.

"She's good," Charlie replied.

"And how are you?"

Charlie just shrugged and said she was trying her best.

"Telling someone about it and not being judged helps though," she added with a smile.

Joey blushed, glad to mean so much to someone.

"And are you okay, Joey?" Charlie asked. "You seemed pretty freaked this morning."

"Oh, I just don't like the guy," Joey explained. "He gives me the creeps."

"I know the feeling," Charlie said. "He kind of reminds me of the guy that..."

She shuddered. Joey immediately put an arm around her and they walked together more closely.

* * *

While Sandra made dinner for the family and Joey, Charlie and her guest played with Ruby on the living room floor. Charlie had been anxious at first but Joey had encouraged her and now her baby sat between her legs and they were playing with as many noisy toys as they could find, making Ruby laugh and clap her hands together. Arriving home from work, Ross looked in on the three of them and couldn't help but feel pleased. Charlie was unusually animated and she was having more physical contact with Ruby than usual. Heading into the kitchen, he approached his wife.

"Have you seen them?" he asked.

She nodded, equally delighted.

"This Joey girl is obviously a good friend for her to have," she said.

* * *

With Ruby taking a well earned nap, Charlie, Joey, Sandra and Ross sat around the dinner table.

"So, Joey," Ross said brightly. "Have you lived in Summer Bay for long?"

"Born and raised, Mr Buckton," Joey said politely.

"Please call me Ross," he said kindly.

She smiled and nodded.

"Do you like it here?" Sandra asked. "We're all still finding out feet."

"It's okay," Joey said. "I mean, I'd like to move away when I finish school. You know, get out on my own a little. See the world."

"Charlie's not sure about staying here for long, are you?" Sandra said.

"I'm not in a hurry," Charlie said. "But yeah, I'd love to be a police officer out in the city."

"You do know it's going to be hard to train with Ruby?" Ross checked.

"I know," Charlie said. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Do you have a boyfriend, Joey?" Sandra asked.

Joey nearly choked on a carrot and said no rather quickly. Charlie cracked a smile. Sandra noticed and asked what the joke was.

"I'm... um... I'm gay," Joey said awkwardly.

Sandra and Ross were both visibly startled. Joey hoped that she hadn't just wrecked everything.

"Oh," Ross said. "But you're so young. How can you...?"

"I just know," Joey said firmly but not severely.

He nodded and continued with his meal.

* * *

Joey stayed for a couple of hours after they had eaten. She helped Charlie feed Ruby her bottle and they tucked her into bed before Joey prepared to leave.

"Mum, Dad, do you mind if I walk Joey back home?" Charlie asked.

Still impressed that Charlie had spent so much quality time with her daughter, they agreed readily. Thanking them politely for dinner and for having her, Joey left with Charlie and they walked down the road together, chatting about their plans for tomorrow. Joey had convinced Charlie to bring Ruby along for a picnic on Joey's family's boat. Joey had learnt to run a boat when she was very young and it was one of her biggest passions in life. At first, Charlie hadn't relished the idea of spending an entire day looking after Ruby without the help of her parents but Joey had pointed out that they hadn't needed Ross or Sandra all evening and that besides, she would be there to help too. At Joey's door, they said goodnight. They hugged tightly, holding on for slightly longer than necessary and Charlie thanked Joey yet again for being so good with her and Ruby.

"It's my pleasure," Joey said honestly. "Thanks for inviting me round."

They hugged again before Joey headed into her house and Charlie took the ten minute walk back home.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Ross and Sandra couldn't help but feel stunned by the way Charlie was so efficiently and happily getting Ruby ready for their day out. She still seemed a little hesitant but the progress she was making was obvious.

"So, what are you actually doing today?" Ross asked his daughter.

"Joey's parents have a boat and she's taking us out on it," Charlie said.

She finished putting Ruby's shoes on and checked she had everything she needed.

"I don't know when I'll be home," she said, smiling pleasantly and putting her jacket on.

"It's wonderful to see you wanting to spend time with Ruby," Ross said.

Charlie offered him another smile before saying goodbye and heading through the door with her daughter.

* * *

Joey was on board already when Charlie and Ruby arrived. She'd been up and out early, getting a picnic hamper together from the Diner and now they were just about ready to set sail. Seeing Charlie and Ruby approach, she waved and jumped back onto the dock.

"Hey," she greeted warmly.

"Hi," Charlie replied.

Joey bent and said hello to Ruby who was going through a smiling phase and beamed at her mother's friend.

"If you pick her up and hop on, I'll get this on," Joey said, referring to the pram.

"I can put it..." Charlie began to protest.

Joey gave her a stern look and Charlie relented. She scooped Ruby out of her little bed and held her close. Her hands still shook when she carried her but she was slowly trying to override it and have holding her child feel like a normal thing. Joey touched her arm gently and smiled before hauling the pram on deck and putting the break on. Feeling a little nervous about stepping on board holding the baby, Charlie hesitated.

"I'm going to need to hold on," she said, feeling a bit foolish.

Joey reached out and helped the duo onto the boat.

"Sorry," Charlie said.

Their bodies pressed together for a moment while Joey said it was fine. They stepped back.

"Shall we?" Joey said brightly.

Charlie nodded. Joey untied the boat from its moorings and then headed to the wheel. Taking a deep breath, Charlie cuddled Ruby a little closer and sat down with her so that she could see things as they travelled out to sea.

* * *

An hour later, Charlie, Joey and Ruby were in the middle of the deep blue sea, sitting on the deck of the boat, eating lunch and enjoying the sunshine. Ruby was sitting up against Charlie and was continuously making a grab for everything in front of her. It made the girls laugh.

"She wants to touch everything right now," Charlie said.

Joey smiled. Ruby waggled her hands around.

"She looks like she wants to play the drums!" she giggled.

She turned a couple of empty pots over.

"Can I?" she asked.

Charlie nodded and Joey scooped Ruby up and held her. She helped her bang her hands on the pots and Charlie watched them both smile happily.

"You're so good with her, Joey," Charlie said.

She lay on her back and looked up at the sky, suddenly feeling sad. Noticing, Joey asked if she was okay.

"Yeah," Charlie sighed.

Joey moved so that she and Ruby could lie next to her.

"What's up?" she asked, also looking up at the sky.

Ruby lay between them, wiggling her arms and legs around.

"You must think I'm a terrible person," Charlie said sadly.

"A terrible person? Why?"

"I thought... I thought the bond between mother and daughter was meant to be instinctive. But I can barely hold her."

Tears escaped her eyes. Joey propped herself on her elbow, careful to keep Ruby close. She reached out to wipe Charlie's tears away.

"Charlie, after everything you've been through, I think you're doing incredibly well."

"But I struggle so much with her."

"It's just going to take time, okay?" Joey said gently. "And every day you're making progress. You'll get there. You... you'll wake up one day and you'll feel so lucky to have her."

Charlie turned her head and gazed at Joey, hoping that what she said was true.

"You make it easier," she said honestly.


	11. Chapter 11

_Well, the eviction has been cancelled tonight so in celebration of the lovely Corin getting at least another week in the house, here is another update for you. And things are certainly moving on... Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Eleven**

The afternoon was drawing to a close but both Charlie and Joey were reluctant to go home. With Ruby fast asleep in her pram, the two friends were still on their blanket. They'd eaten good food and talked a lot. Charlie had managed to play with Ruby and she was feeling partly proud of herself and partly horrible that it was such an effort.

"Thank you for today," Charlie said.

She lay back and on her side, propping herself up on her elbow.

"It's my pleasure," Joey replied, mirroring her position. "I've had a wonderful day."

"So have I," said Charlie. "And so has Rubes."

They smiled at each other. Closing the gap between them, they shared a soft, innocent kiss. Both blushed as they pulled away. Joey reached out and held Charlie's hand, smiling lovingly at her.

* * *

Joey, Charlie and Ruby stopped off at the Diner in order to take the hamper back and then Joey walked Charlie and her daughter home. Ruby had had a very happy day and was now sleeping with a contented smile on her face. Charlie had to admit it was cute. And she felt like she had made a lot of progress today. Being with Ruby had been easier than normal and Charlie was certain that it was because of Joey's comfort and encouragement.

"We're home!" Charlie greeted when she and Joey stepped through the door.

Ross and Sandra were pleased to see them. They hurried over and checked on Ruby.

"Did you have a good day?" Ross asked.

"We had an awesome day," Charlie confirmed.

"Ruby can play the drums!" Joey grinned.

Charlie's parents looked confused.

"I'll get her to show you later," Charlie promised. "It's very cute."

Ross and Sandra were pleased to see Charlie looking happier than she had in a long time.

"Can Joey stay for a bit?" Charlie asked.

"Um... sure," Ross replied.

Charlie glanced at Joey, took a deep breath and scooped Ruby up in her arms, careful not to disturb her as she carried her up to bed. Joey followed and once Ruby was settled again, they headed into Charlie's room with the baby monitor. Charlie sat on her bed and Joey came to sit beside her.

"I think my parent's heads are spinning right about now," Charlie said.

"Why?"

"Because I took Ruby out for the day. Because I've tucked her into bed. Because I've been affectionate with her."

Joey reached out and squeezed her arm gently.

"I'm sure they're proud of you," she said.

"Well, I hope so. Because they've been pretty disappointed in me up till now."

"I'm sure they haven't," Joey tried.

"They have," Charlie said certainly. "Home has been hell for a while."

They exchanged sad smiles.

"You've made my life better, Joey," Charlie said sincerely.

"I aim to please!" Joey grinned.

Charlie laughed.

"And to be honest, you've made my world a better place too," Joey said.

Charlie looked touched.

"Things haven't been easy," Joey ventured. "For the last few years I haven't... I haven't really been very happy. But being friends with you... it... it makes me feel better."

Charlie leant forward and captured Joey's lips with her own again. They kissed tenderly for a few moments. Joey stroked Charlie's face. Both of them were tingling but neither of them were entirely sure what it meant. They didn't want anything romantic with anyone, neither girl felt ready for something like that. But it felt nice to kiss each other, to express affection. They kissed again.

* * *

As the weeks went by, Charlie and Joey became inseparable. They spent all day at school together and then spent time together after school and every weekend, they took Ruby out to do something nice, even if it was just a walk along the beach. Charlie couldn't help but marvel at just how good Joey was with the baby. She seemed to love her as if she was her own. She stepped in where Charlie struggled and encouraged her to overcome her anxiety. One evening, having said goodnight to Joey and put Ruby down to sleep, Charlie sat in the lounge with her parents.

"You and Joey get along pretty well," Ross ventured awkwardly.

Charlie studied his face, wondering where he was going with this.

"She's my best friend," she said.

"And uh... well, you don't think...?"

He glanced at his wife.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Well, do you think maybe you might be leading her on a little bit?"

Charlie looked utterly bewildered. She worried that her parents or someone might have seen them kiss. It was a regular occurrence now, although nothing more had happened. They hadn't really talked about it. Kissing was just something loving that they shared. And Charlie was certain that she loved her. Joey meant everything to her and she thought Joey felt the same. She seemed to anyway.

"Well, you spend so much time together and she's a lesbian and..." Sandra said.

"So?" Charlie snapped. "Why does her sexuality impact our friendship?"

"Well, we were just worried that she might be... you know, falling for you."

"She's not," Charlie said. "We love each other and we're best friends. That's all."

"But how do you love each other?" Ross asked.

Charlie just shrugged, unsure of how she could explain.

"Charlie, we know you've been through a lot," Ross said. "And it's natural that you'd be weary of boys after Grant but..."

"Whatever I feel or don't feel for Joey has nothing to do with what happened to me," Charlie said, offended.

"We're just concerned about the amount of time you're spending with her," Sandra admitted.

"You mean you're concerned about the amount of time I'm spending with a girl who's helped me get my self-esteem back, who helps me feel able to hold my baby, to change her, to feed her, to love her? Yeah, Joey's really not good for me, is she? She's not helping me be the mother I'm supposed to be!"

She stood up angrily.

"I can't believe you're judging her, when she's been so amazing to me, just because she's gay."

Disgusted, Charlie hurried to her room.


	12. Chapter 12

_This chapter is for drowningnotwaving. I won't go into the specifics of why, just that she's lovely and requested it. And she earned it! Enjoy! Love, IJKS xx_

**Chapter Twelve**

It was a Saturday and Charlie and Joey were both pleased that the holidays had started. They had made lots of plans to have fun together and Joey had ensured that Ruby was included completely. As the weeks had been passing, Charlie had developed quite a happy routine when it came to looking after her daughter. With the sun shining brightly, the pair of them carried the pram over the sand. Charlie put their bags down and then moved to get Ruby out of the pram. Joey stepped back to get the blanket out of her bag and shrieked as she tumbled over the bags, landing flat on her bottom. Charlie was just about to ask her if she was okay when Ruby burst out into uproarious giggles. Charlie and Joey were both elated.

"She laughed!" Charlie squeaked. "She's never laughed before!"

She turned to the baby.

"You've never laughed before, have you, baby?" she said in a loving voice.

She surprised herself by kissing Ruby's forehead. The tot reached out and touched her mother's cheek. Joey moved closer, smiling at both of them.

"You think me falling over is funny, do you Rubes?"

Ruby grinned at her. Then she and Charlie both burst out laughing as Joey threw herself onto the sand clumsily and on purpose. Charlie clapped her hand over her mouth as a snort escaped, making Ruby laugh more.

* * *

Half an hour later, Ruby was settled in Joey's arms and the two teenagers were tucking into their food. Ruby began to whinge a little.

"Is someone hungry?" Joey asked her.

Charlie reached into her bag and found a little pot of something that didn't quite resemble food. The health visitor had told her that she could start tentatively trying her on things other than just milk. Joey had come with her to the visit as Charlie's parents hadn't been around on that particular day. They'd almost cancelled their plans and Charlie was sure that they weren't entirely comfortable with the way Joey was so involved in their granddaughter's life but Charlie was grateful that she was around so much. She felt like much less of a single parent with Joey there to look after them both.

"Oh, wow, aren't you lucky?" Joey teased. "You get a tub of mush!"

She pulled a face. Ruby laughed. Now that she had done it once, she was apparently finding everything hilarious.

"She is lucky," Charlie insisted. "It means she's getting bigger and stronger."

She took the lid off and dipped a tiny plastic spoon into the pot. She offered it up to Ruby who pulled a face.

"Oh, come on Rubes," Charlie tried. "It's yummy!"

"Dare you to try it!" Joey giggled.

Charlie pulled a face. Ruby laughed all over again. Charlie took the opportunity to get her to taste the food and she reluctantly accepted.

"Bet that tastes just beautiful, Rubes," Joey smirked.

"Be encouraging!" Charlie snapped playfully.

Joey nodded and promised to be good, keeping Ruby resting against her while Charlie slowly managed to spoon feed her. It felt so nice to be out here like this. The more time passed, the more she felt like part of the family. Sometimes it felt like Ruby was hers too. She wished that she was. Things with Charlie were also going perfectly and Joey had realised with some level of anxiety that she was falling in love. Kissing and holding each other was regular occurrence. They were a happy family now and she was so proud of the way Charlie was developing her relationship with Ruby. She was so much more comfortable around her and they interacted so much more easily. It warmed Joey's heart to see Charlie being the mother she'd always known she was capable of being. She'd had a bit of a blip on the anniversary of the day she'd originally conceived Ruby but Joey had understood and not judged. She'd just stepped in and taken care of Ruby while Charlie wasn't feeling able to.

* * *

An hour later, Ruby was sound asleep in the pram and Charlie and Joey were sitting side by side, holding hands. Charlie stroked her thumb along Joey's palm, making them both tingle. She gazed into her eyes and leant forward, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss. It last several minutes and when they parted, they rested their foreheads together, still holding hands.

"I love you," Joey whispered.

Then she blanched and sat up. The words had tumbled out of her. She hadn't really meant to say them. Glancing back at Charlie, she saw she was smiling.

"I love you too," Charlie said sincerely.

Joey beamed at her. She leant in for another kiss. It developed quickly and before long, Charlie was stretched out on her back with Joey leaning over her.

"Joey?" Charlie asked with curiously.

"Mmm?"

Joey asked, placing a gentle kiss on her neck.

"Are we dating?"

Joey pondered the question thoughtfully.

"Yeah," she finally said. "I guess we are."

She lay on her side, next to Charlie, catching hold of her hand again. It was strange. Before Charlie and her family had arrived in the Bay, Joey had been determined that she'd never date again. She'd never wanted to be close to anyone, to be touched, to be kissed, held or intimate. And while they kept things low key and never did more than kissing and holding each other, it was strange and wonderful to realise that they were in a relationship.

"Look at the lesbians!" a male voice shouted.

It was enough to make Joey's blood turn cold. Sitting up, she saw Robbo and Brett nearby with their girlfriends. Charlie sat up too, feeling nervous.

"Mummy, Mummy and Baby, is it?" Brett smirked.

"Leave us alone," Charlie snapped.

The boys approached. The girls hung back.

"Do you know that everyone knows you're a slut, Charlie?" Robbo asked.

"What?"

"We all know the kid's yours," he said. "That you got yourself knocked up. Slut."

Joey launched herself at Robbo. He cried out as her shoulder rammed him in the chest. The girls shrieked and Ruby woke up in tears as Robbo and Joey sprawled out together on the floor. Repulsed by his touch, Joey moved to get off him immediately but he held onto her and smiled.

"Remind you of old times?" he whispered.

She tried to pull roughly away. Charlie hurried to tend to the baby, all the while keeping one eye on Joey.

"Except I was on top if I remember correctly."

Joey drew back her fist and punched him. He cried out in pained surprise and she backed off, returning to the safety of her blanket with Charlie and Ruby.

"I guess we know who's the butch," Robbo commented, dabbing at his face and pulling himself to his feet.

"You're a waste of space, Jo," Brett told his sister coldly before the foursome departed.

Charlie settled Ruby and placed her back in the pram before turning to Joey and asking if she was alright. She was surprised to find her trembling and with tears in her eyes.

"Joey..." Charlie said gently.

She kissed her and pulled her tightly into her embrace.


	13. Chapter 13

_And here is today's update! Thank you for your patience! (Previous inclusion of Morag was an error - thanks to Bethers85 for pointing it out - it's corrected now). Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirteen**

_A Year Later..._

Charlie and Joey were sixteen years old and Ruby had recently celebrated her first birthday. Charlie, Joey, Ross, Sandra and Charlie's Auntie Michelle had all got together for a little party with cake and presents and Ruby seemed to have enjoyed her day immensely. Now it was a Sunday and the threesome were at church. Joey had begun attending services with Rev Elijah Johnson several years ago and at first, a little embarrassed, she had kept it a secret from Charlie. But when Charlie had asked her where she disappeared to on a Sunday morning, Joey had explained and instead of laughing, Charlie had asked to go along with her. Now, they were getting ready for Ruby to be christened. Everyone had figured out that Ruby was Charlie's daughter without her needing to say anything and while she knew she had been the subject of gossip, for that reason and because she was openly dating Joey, but things had died down now. After the church service that morning, Charlie approached Elijah and asked if they were still on for the following Sunday. He was a young man in his late twenties and Charlie and Joey were both fond of him. Joey felt particularly bonded to him, having turned to him with her problems when she'd had nobody else.

"Of course," he said, smiling at her and Ruby. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Great," Charlie said. "Thanks."

Saying goodbye, she caught up with Joey who was helping to put some chairs away.

"Ready?" she asked.

They were planning, as usual to go and have lunch together at the Diner after the service.

"Sure," Joey said.

She took Ruby from Charlie and put her into her buggy and they set off together. Walking side by side, they giggled at the way Ruby chattered a constant ream of nonsense as she gazed at the world around her. She was a demon for crawling now and could zoom around much faster than Charlie or Joey could keep up with. They just had to turn away for a second and Ruby was on the other side of the room. She'd managed to say Mama for Charlie, JoJo for Joey, RoRo for her Grandfather, presumably because she heard him being referred to as Ross on a regular basis. Her Grandmother's name was San.

* * *

When they got to the Diner, Charlie and Joey headed inside. One of the waitresses, Colleen provided a high chair and cooed over Ruby. It had taken her a bit of time to get her head around Charlie been a school girl mother and even longer to understand that Charlie and Joey were a couple but now she seemed to accept them as readily as most other people did. The girls had struggled a little with Ross and Sandra to start with. They hadn't wanted their daughter to be with a girl and had worried that it was knee jerk response to what had happened to her. But Charlie had not so calmly explained that Joey made her happy, that she completed her. Reluctantly, they had accepted things and were at least grateful that Charlie seemed to have outgrown her problems with acting like a Mum. They knew that Joey had had a lot to do with it. Charlie and Joey still got some trouble at school but generally they kept themselves to themselves and didn't much care for their fellow students. They lived in their happy little world together where nobody could hurt them.

"Could I have the jacket potato with cheese please, Colleen?" Joey asked.

"Certainly," Colleen said. "And how about for you, Charlie?"

"The lasagne, please," Charlie said politely.

Colleen gave Ruby another little pat on the head and she bustled away to put their order in.

"JoJo!" Ruby said.

Joey turned to give the baby her full attention but she just giggled and said her name over and over again. Joey chuckled and took her out of the chair to give her a cuddle.

"How do you feel about being a step-mum at sixteen?" Charlie teased.

Joey looked up a little startled but then she smiled.

"I'm very, very happy," she confirmed. "As long as I don't get called Dada, I'm good."

"Nah," Charlie giggled. "You're not butch enough!"

"I could be butch!" Joey protested.

She did her best tough impression complete with a little growl. It only served to make Charlie and Ruby both laugh. Joey cuddled Ruby a little closer and kissed the top of her head.

"I really do love you, you know, Rubes," she said affectionately.

Charlie cleared her throat loudly.

"I love you too," Joey told her.

She leant forward and placed a gentle kiss on Charlie's waiting lips.

"Yuck!" a male voice said loudly.

They both turned and sighed to see Robbo and Brett standing there. Joey wondered silently why her brother and his friend couldn't just leave them alone. They weren't hurting anyone by being together and they were both becoming tired of being picked on. And once upon a time, Joey would have stood up for herself and argued back but aside from that one time on the beach, it had been a long time since she'd felt capable. She much preferred to hide until the danger went away. She liked losing herself in Charlie and taking comfort from her.

* * *

At school the following day, Joey was exiting the girls' bathroom and going in search of Charlie when Robbo cornered her. She froze as she realised he had backed her up against a wall. Seeing that she was looking for an escape, Robbo stepped in closer.

"I'm getting pretty sick of you and your little girlfriend running around town together," he said.

"We're not hurting anyone," Joey said.

She tried to push past him but he was solid as a rock and wouldn't budge.

"Well, maybe I should give you a reason not to want to be with her anymore," he said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Well, I ruined you for girls before," he said. "Maybe I'll do it again."

Panic swept over her. She elbowed out of the way and fled, ignoring Charlie as she called after her.

* * *

Charlie phoned her mother and asked if she could take care of Ruby for lunch. These days, neither of her parents minded helping her out. She no longer tried to shirk her responsibilities and she found it much easier to play parent to Ruby. As soon as she'd hung up, she hit the beach, the Diner and the Surf Club but couldn't find Joey anywhere. On a whim, she headed up to the church and sure enough, Joey was sitting in the front pew, sobbing.

"Joey?" Charlie asked gently.

The teenager whipped her head around and wiped her eyes. She cleared her throat and stood up, trying to pretend that there was nothing wrong, although she knew by now that Charlie could read her like a book. She sat down and Charlie came to sit next to her. She put her arm around her and Joey leant into her embrace.

"Why does Robbo get to you so much?" Charlie asked

Joey swallowed. She looked up the Communion table and then closed her eyes.

"He's my Grant," she said quietly.

Charlie stiffened and stared at her with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Please don't hate me..." Joey begged.

"How could I ever hate you?" Charlie asked, genuinely certain that it wasn't possible.

"I lied to you," Joey said. "Well, sort of... I left something out."

Having a horrible idea that she knew what it was. She searched Joey's eyes, praying that she was wrong.

"I was thirteen when it happened," Joey said. "Just turned."

"Joey, did he...?"

Joey nodded. She sank against Charlie who immediately held her tight.

"I got pregnant," she said.

"What?"

"But I lost it."

Tears trailed down Joey's cheeks and Charlie closed her eyes for fear of crying too. No wonder Joey was so besotted with Ruby. A thought suddenly struck Charlie and she drew away.

"Why don't you hate _me_?" she asked.

Joey stared at her.

"What?"

"I was in the same position as you," Charlie said. "But I got to keep my baby and it took so long for me to learn to love her. It was you who helped me. If I didn't have you, I don't know if... How could you watch me fail her and not despise me when you missed out?"

"Because I fell in love with you," Joey said honestly. "And because I completely understood what you were going through. I wanted my baby. I was devastated when I lost him."

"Him?"

"I just thought it was a him," she said. "He didn't survive long enough for me to find out or anything."

Charlie nodded and reached out to hold Joey's hands.

"But I can't say I wouldn't have gone through the same struggles you did. I admire you for the way you handle everything, Charlie..."

"But it was so hard for me to..."

"But you did it anyway."

Charlie reached out and held her. She kissed her cheek and stroked her back. Joey continued to tremble but she felt strangely unburdened now that she had told the truth.


	14. Chapter 14

_And here is the final update of the day. We've moved on anther year and Ruby's personality is becoming more apparent! Enjoy! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Fourteen**

_A Year Later..._

Ross and Sandra were more nervous about going away for the week than Charlie was. Her daughter was now two and a half and it amazed her to see how rapidly she was developing. She seemed to do new things all the time and it made her happy to see her grow. She also loved that Ruby called her Mama. There had been a time when she hadn't believed that she could ever be the mother Ruby deserved. At first she had worried that she only enjoyed motherhood when Joey was around but now she found that she also enjoyed taking care of her by herself. When she woke up, she was happy to go in to see her, although now that Ruby was in a big bed all of her own, she quite often came to her mother first. Charlie loved the moments when Ruby would toddle in and tug on the blanket, way before either of them were meant to be awake. Charlie would happily pick her daughter up and cuddle up to her in bed. She enjoyed the quiet time with her, when they were both still sleepy. And she found that she missed her when she was at school. Instead of dragging herself home reluctantly, she and usually Joey would happily head back to the house to spend their lunch hour with a girl who had fast become _their _daughter. Ruby was as happy around Jo-Wee as she was around Mama. They constantly played games. A favourite of Ruby's, and she suspected Joey's, was still peek-a-boo. Meal times were messy but Ruby now sat at the table with Charlie and her parents and could feed herself. Making a mess of everything was the highlight of Ruby's day and Charlie had asked her parents if they had spent her life cleaning up after her too. They said they still did, to which she was most offended but a little amused. The night before Ross and Sandra were due to go on their first child-free holiday since Charlie had been born, they sat with their daughter in the living room. Ruby was long since asleep.

"So, you're sure you're okay without us?" Ross checked.

"Dad, I'm seventeen," Charlie said. "I'm perfectly capable."

"Even with...?"

"Especially with Ruby," Charlie promised. "I do fine with her now."

She looked momentarily worried.

"Don't I?"

"Of course you do," Sandra assured her.

Charlie relaxed again and smiled.

"Hey, uh... I was wondering..." she ventured.

"You want Joey to stay over, don't you?" Ross said.

Charlie flashed her most charming smile. Her parents glanced at each other. They knew the question would come up and they hadn't yet decided on an answer.

"Well, I guess if you want her here, we can't stop you," Ross ventured.

"But you're not happy about it," Charlie concluded unhappily.

Sandra sighed.

"The thing is, Charlie, we do understand that you're seventeen and in a relationship and that you're probably..."

She coloured at the thought of her daughter getting up to mischief.

"We're not having sex," Charlie informed them.

Both her parents looked startled and relieved in equal measure.

"She'd just be sleeping here," Charlie said. "We're not... there yet."

She and Joey made out on a regular basis. And they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. But so far, no clothes had been shed and neither felt in that much of a hurry to do so. Their first sexual experiences had ruined any burning desire they had to be intimate any more than they already were. Neither felt offended because both understood.

"Oh," Sandra said. "I assumed..."

Charlie shook her head.

"I understand why you're not a hormonal teenager but I would have thought Joey..."

"Understands what I'm going through and completely respects that I'm not ready," Charlie said quickly.

She had spent hours trying to convince Joey to stand for herself and press charges against Robbo. But Joey insisted that she was used to having him hanging around like a bad smell and she could cope so long as he kept his distance. She said she didn't want the hassle.

"So, can she stay?"

"I guess so," Sandra said, looking at Ross for confirmation.

"Yeah," he said. "She can stay."

* * *

The following morning, Charlie woke up to Ruby sitting on top of her and poking her nose. Mother and daughter smiled at each other.

"How did you get up here?" Charlie asked affectionately.

"Climb," Ruby replied simply.

She hadn't done it before. Charlie looked over the side of the bed and saw that Ruby had dragged a stool up beside it and hopped on.

"Well done," Charlie said, sitting up and drawing Ruby into her arms. "I'm impressed."

Ruby bounded under the covers and snuggled up to her mother. Then she frowned.

"Uh oh..." she said.

"What?" Charlie asked, although she knew what was coming.

"I need a wee!"

Although she still wore nappies at night, they were currently practising toilet training in the day time and Ruby was taking to it very well. She had also taken to shrugging herself out of her trousers and wet nappy first thing in the morning. Charlie wasn't sure if she was pleased or not with that though. It had led to a few accidents.

"Well, we'd better get up then!" she said brightly, lifting the covers off. "And well done for telling me!"

Ruby beamed at her as Charlie picked her up and hurried her towards the bathroom.

"Girl done good!" Ruby said proudly.

It was her version of a phrase of Joey's that always made Charlie giggle.

* * *

Later that morning, Ruby was happily playing with a box that Auntie Michelle had bought her. Each side had various shapes cut into it and it was Ruby's job to put the shaped blocks through the right holes. She did it with ease now but she never got tired of the challenge and she had begun sorting the shapes into different colours first now before she played.

"Okay, we're ready to go," Ross called out.

Charlie came over and scooped Ruby up into her arms. The toddler began to protest but grumpily agreed that it was important to say bye-bye to Granddad and Nanny. Ross and Sandra kissed both girls goodbye and mother and daughter stood at the door and waved them off.

"Bye-bye!" Ruby said cheerfully, as she continued to wave, long after Ross and Sandra had departed.

"Okay," Charlie said, heading back into the lounge. "I think it's time to get dressed."

Ruby instantly began to wail. She did not like the dressing and undressing part of the day.

"You get to play in the tub," Charlie pointed out.

Ruby's tears instantly ceased. Playing with water was one of her favourite things.

* * *

Ruby was dressed and Charlie was in her underwear when Joey arrived.

"Hey," Charlie said. "Sorry."

"I don't mind!" Joey giggled.

Charlie tapped her nose and told her not to be naughty before she pulled her into a hug and kissed her.

"Mmm," Joey said, running her hands over Charlie's skin. "I really don't mind."

While Charlie hadn't said as much to her parents, she and Joey were becoming more confident with each other and they had talked about taking things to the next step. It certainly wasn't lost on each other that they found each other sexually attractive. And moments like this only proved it.

"How come you're busy flaunting yourself to my innocent eyes anyway?" Joey teased.

Charlie pointed to Ruby who was playing with a puzzle, ever so innocently on the floor. The toddler looked up, saw Joey and hurled herself into her arms. Joey caught her just in time and scooped her into her arms.

"Jo-Wee!" she declared happily.

Joey kissed her and then turned to Charlie.

"We seriously need to teach her to say my name properly."

"Aw, I think it's cute," Charlie said affectionately.

She kissed her girlfriend and daughter's cheeks and the declared that she could finally get dressed, before explaining that Ruby had screamed the house down every time Charlie had stopped playing with her in order to put some clothes on.

"Oh dear," Joey said to Ruby, coming to sit with her on the floor. "Mummy has to get dressed, Rubes. We're going out."

Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Where?" she asked.

"Well, outside, there might be a little present for you," Joey explained.

Charlie pulled on her jeans and buttoned her shirt, smiling at the two of them. They'd talked the previous week about getting Ruby a tricycle. They'd pooled their money together and gone halves on the gift but Joey had been the one to go and buy it. Now, it appeared, she'd brought it to the house and left it outside. Ruby squealed in delight and immediately repeated the word 'what' over and over again.

"You just have to wait until Mummy's ready," Joey said.

Charlie sat on the couch and put her shoes on. Ruby watched her intently.

"I'm ready!" Charlie announced.

Ruby leapt to her feet with a little wobble. Joey reached out to steady her. She grabbed Charlie's backpack and slung it on before they headed out the house. Ruby's new tricycle stood outside with a pink bow on the handlebars. She had discovered the art of bike riding at the nursery Charlie took her to once a week to get her interacting with other children.

"Trike!" Ruby yelled.

She jumped up and down in excitement. This was one of her latest tricks.

"Do you want to go for a ride?" Joey asked.

Ruby nodded, more than eager to go.


	15. Chapter 15

_I'm back! And have learnt many things over the weekend. Pride in a wheelchair is hard. And when you're stuck in said wheelchair, you're invisible! I asked a steward a question and they told my friend the answer! I might not be able to walk properly but I can still speak and understand you! Grumble. Anyway, here is today's update and our girls are sixteen and growing up so fast...! I hope you enjoy it. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Fifteen**

It was the end of the first day of Ross and Sandra's holiday and Charlie, Joey and Ruby had had a lovely time. Ruby had ridden her new tricycle and they had played on the beach for hours. Ruby had rambled on at a mile a minute with her limited vocabulary as usual while Charlie and Joey had found the odd moment for a kiss and a cuddle. Now that they were home, Ruby was singing and dancing in the lounge while Joey flopped on the couch and pulled Charlie into her arms. Charlie landed on her and rested her head comfortably on Joey's chest. They held hands. Ruby sat on the floor and watched them. She felt happy when her mother and Joey were together. They were happy and it was infectious.

"I'm hungry," the toddler declared.

"I'd better make us all some food then," Charlie replied, although she didn't make any move to get up.

Joey used her free hand to stroke Charlie's hair.

"I'll cook," she offered.

Placing a gentle kiss on Charlie's lips and they got up. Joey headed into the kitchen as Charlie called out her gratitude.

"Rubes, do you want to watch cartoons?" Charlie offered.

"Toons!" Ruby squeaked with a clap of her hands.

Chuckling, Charlie ruffled her daughter's curly hair and turned the television on. It was still on the right channel from the morning. Making sure Ruby was settled, Charlie headed into the kitchen. Joey was rummaging in cupboards. Charlie stood behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing her shoulder.

"Have you had a nice day?" Joey asked.

"I always have a lovely day with you and Rubes," Charlie said. "Although I think I could probably sleep for a week! That girl is beautiful but exhausting!"

She sat at the kitchen table. Joey turned around with a cheeky smile.

"Like mother like daughter!" she remarked.

"Hey!" Charlie said. "I'm not exhausting!"

She sighed.

"I'm not beautiful either," she said.

Joey studied her face, wondering if she was really serious. She thought Charlie was the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen, including celebrities on the television. And she told her so. Charlie blushed a little. Joey moved to kneel in between her legs and wrap her arms around her waist.

"I mean it," she said sincerely. "You're beautiful. And I love you."

They kissed softly.

"Well, I'm no Joey Collins," Charlie smiled. "She is hot!"

Joey laughed and kissed her again before standing up and resuming her hunt for food.

* * *

That evening, once the girls had given Ruby a bath and tucked her into bed with a story, Charlie and Joey headed back downstairs. Joey stretched out on the sofa and couldn't quite help admiring Charlie's backside as she rummaged through her DVD collection to find a film. Noting that Joey wasn't showing any interest in any of the titles she yelled out, Charlie turned and met Joey's smile. She moved over to the sofa and knelt beside her.

"Were you checking me out?" she teased.

"Always!" Joey replied.

Charlie smiled and leant in to kiss her. Joey wrapped her arms around Charlie's neck and pulled her closer. Charlie inhaled the faint smell of Joey's perfume and lost herself in their kiss. Once upon a time, she hadn't thought she would ever want to go near anyone again. Meeting Joey had certainly been a surprise. It felt so right to be with her. Gender didn't matter. Nor did their broken pasts. All they needed was each other. Charlie touched her tongue to Joey's lips. Her girlfriend welcomed her in, kissing her with growing passion. She pulled Charlie onto the couch so that she was lying on top of her. Charlie ran a cautious hand down Joey's body, briefly touching her left breast and hip. When Joey didn't protest, she took things further by nuzzling into her neck and kissing her there. She gently sucked on her skin, hard enough to notice but not hard enough to leave a mark. Joey raked her short fingernails down Charlie's back, making her shiver and quiver with delight. They kissed again and Charlie shifted so that she could gaze into Joey's eyes for a moment. Silently, they confirmed that tonight was the night.

* * *

Later that night, as Charlie and Joey pulled t-shirts on in order to go to sleep, they came back to Charlie's bed and held each other.

"Are you happy?" Charlie asked a little nervously.

Joey turned to face her and held her hands. She dropped one and stroked Charlie's face.

"I'm ecstatic," she said honestly.

Taking a deep breath, she prepared to tell Charlie exactly how she felt about her.

"There was a time," she ventured. "When I thought I'd been destroyed. I never ever thought I could be intimate with somebody. But then I met you and you understood me. You loved me and you made me feel safe. As far as I'm concerned, I lost my virginity to you tonight, Charlie. You're the first and last person I ever want to be with. I want to love you for the rest of my life."

Charlie leant in and kissed her lips ever so softly.

"You mean everything to me, Joey," she told her. "And you mean everything to Ruby. I hope that... well, that we can be a happy little family. Me, you and Rubes. I feel like together, we can conquer the world."

She kissed her again.

"And I lost my virginity to you tonight too, Joey," she said. "And it was a million times more wonderful than I even imagined. I never thought I could be this happy."

Snuggling beneath the blankets, having already got up to check that Ruby was safe and soundly asleep, they held each other and settled down for their first night in each other's arms.

"We are a family," Joey said softly. "Me, you and Rubes. Forever."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Ruby woke up early the next morning and bounded into her mother's bedroom. Dragging a box over, she clambered up onto the bed and found Charlie and Joey sleeping side by side.

"Wake up!" she bellowed cheerfully, reaching out to pat Joey's face.

The dark haired girl began to stir and protest. Charlie woke up and chuckled softly. Joey had never stayed over before so she wasn't used to being woken up by a toddler. She sat up and reached her arms out to Ruby who hugged her and began to settle down. Joey rubbed her eyes and sat up too.

"Morning, little one," she mumbled, resting her head on Charlie's shoulder.

"Can we play?" Ruby asked immediately.

She looked adoringly at Charlie and Joey.

"Can we wake up a bit first?" Charlie asked.

Ruby shook her head.

"Let's play now!" she said.

Charlie moaned, as did Joey who insisted that she was tired. The couple caught each other's looks and smiled shyly. They'd worn each other out a little bit the night before.

"Uh oh," Ruby frowned.

"What?" Charlie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Wee!" Ruby squeaked. "I need wee!"

"Come on then," Charlie said, swinging her legs over the bed and putting Ruby on the floor.

They hurried off to the bathroom together. Joey stayed in bed yawning. Last night had been the best night of her life and she was very excited to be playing house with her girlfriend for the week.

* * *

Ross and Sandra arrived home on Sunday afternoon. They were a little nervous over what to expect but were pleased to find the house spick and span except for the toys Ruby was currently playing with on the floor. Charlie was lying on the sofa with her head on Joey's lap. She smiled and sat up when she saw her parents enter the room. Joey smiled too and Ruby stood and waddled up to them to give them hugs and ask if they bought her any presents.

"Rubes," Charlie complained. "Give them a chance to sit down first."

Ruby sighed dramatically and climbed up onto Joey's lap. Ross and Sandra sat down.

"How was your trip?" Charlie asked.

"It was wonderful," Ross said. "How was your week at home alone?"

Charlie and Joey nodded, feeling a little shy. They held hands.

"We had a wonderful time," Charlie said.

It had been amazing to play house with Joey. Going to bed with her each night, waking up with her in the morning, sharing parental responsibility with her for Ruby, cooking, running the house, making day trips, making love... all of it had been perfect. She could see herself growing up and moving out, living with Joey and sharing her life with her permanently. Sandra caught the expression on her daughter's face, saw how she was glowing and could only come to one conclusion. She didn't mind exactly, although it frightened to see her daughter growing up so fast. At least she knew she was happy and while Joey might not be the partner she would have chosen for Charlie, she knew without a doubt that she worshipped her and would do anything for her. Charlie had certainly changed over the last few years and it was for the better. She was stronger, more capable, more confident and definitely happier.

* * *

The following week, Joey headed round to Charlie's house so they could study together. They had a school project that needed to be in when term resumed.

"Did I miss Rubes?" Joey asked, finding Charlie alone.

"Yeah, she was all sleepy so I put her to bed a few minutes ago," Charlie said, opening the fridge to pour out drinks for them both. "You can go up and say goodnight if you want."

Joey beamed at her, kissed her cheek and then skipped upstairs. Ross was at work for the night and Sandra was out with friends. Charlie poured out two juices and then sat down at the kitchen table, waiting for Joey to return. She bounded down the stairs again and few moments later and sat beside her.

"She's so cute when she sleeps," she said. "Makes that little snuffly noise."

Charlie chuckled.

"So do you!" she said.

Joey looked horrified and embarrassed in equal measure.

"Do I snore?" she asked.

"No, you snuffle," Charlie grinned. "It's very cute."

Joey looked unconvinced. Charlie leant over and kissed her.

"Where are your folks?"

"Work and out," Charlie said. "We have the place to ourselves."

"Then what on earth are we studying for?" Joey asked, standing up and dragging Charlie as far as the lounge by the hand.

"We have an assignment to complete!" Charlie protested.

Joey pulled her into her arms, kissing her. They tumbled onto the couch together and kissed for several moments. Charlie reminded Joey of the assignment. Joey stroked her cheek and kissed her, grinning wickedly.

"Well, maybe I have an assignment of my own," she said.

Charlie relented and kissed her again.

"Wait... how out is your Mum?" Joey asked, not wanting to be caught.

"Very out," Charlie confirmed. "Although, it probably doesn't matter so much now."

Joey offered a quizzical look.

"We had 'the talk' yesterday," Charlie said.

Joey looked unsure. Charlie sat up and held her hand.

"She figured out that while they were away we... you know."

She smiled bashfully. Joey smiled back.

"Is she okay with it?" she asked.

"She said if I was happy, then she was happy and she thinks you're wonderful," Charlie explained. "I think you're wonderful."

Joey blushed. She wrapped her arms around her and held on tight.


	17. Chapter 17

_I hope the lack of angst in this story is making up for the overload of it in Interwoven! But that will get better, I promise. For now, thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing. Much love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Seventeen**

_A year later..._

Charlie and Joey walked along the beach, hand in hand. They'd taken their shoes off and the surf gently rushed over their feet. The year was coming to an end and the time had come for them to make plans for their future. Charlie wanted to join the police force but it meant leaving Summer Bay and heading back to the city. She was scared of facing her demons and surviving on her own with Ruby, without her parents. And she was afraid that this meant she would lose Joey, who hadn't quite decided what she wanted to do with her life.

"I don't care what I do," Joey finally said. "All I know is that I want to be with you. So... I was thinking... why don't we move to the city together?"

She was nervous about the suggestion. She was worried that perhaps Charlie wouldn't want her to come along. Maybe she wanted to start afresh on her own. Maybe she didn't feel quite the same way Joey did.

"Seriously?" Charlie said, pausing her step.

She turned to face her girlfriend. Joey nodded, trying to read Charlie's expression.

"That would be a dream come true!" Charlie said.

Joey grinned.

"Really?"

"Of course!"

Charlie swept Joey up and into a hug. They kissed happily, stopping only when they heard comments behind them. They turned unhappily to see Robbo and Brett walking across the sand with their girlfriends.

"It should be illegal to parade lesbianism around!" Robbo said.

Ignoring him, the girls held hands and carried on walking, but quicker than before, eager to get away from the foursome. When they were safely away from them, Charlie squeezed Joey's hand.

"You really want to come to the city with me?" she asked.

Joey nodded.

"I'd go anywhere with you if it made you happy," she admitted.

Charlie smiled and blushed.

"After what happened, I never thought I'd say these words but right now, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world."

Joey beamed at her and rested her head against Charlie's shoulder. Charlie put her arm around her and they walked comfortably together.

"What do you think you'll do in the city?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Joey said. "I'll think of something. And I'll guess we'll have to work out training, working and looking after Rubes."

Charlie smiled.

"We'll be a little family," she realised.

"Yep," Joey said. We could get a little apartment. We can play house! We could be so happy."

Joey stopped and faced her.

"We _will_ be so happy," she replied firmly.

They checked nobody unpleasant was around and kissed again.

_

* * *

_

Four months later...

Ross and Sandra were busily fussing over Charlie and Ruby as mother and child prepared to leave home. Sandra could hardly believe she was losing her baby and her grandbaby. It was horrible to say goodbye to them. And it wasn't as if they were only moving down the road either. How would they cope? What if things didn't work out? How could she and Ross protect them all the way in Summer Bay?

"I'm going to miss you so much," Sandra said tearfully, pulling Charlie into a hug.

* * *

Joey finished loading her stuff into the car. She took one last look at the house and climbed in to drive over to Charlie's, ready for them to set off for their first day in their new home. The pair of them had saved up to buy the car together the year before and both had been excited at the prospect of sharing it. It felt like another level of commitment. Now, they were going to be living together, raising Ruby together even more so than they were already, and sharing their lives with each other. The idea of spending her life with Charlie and Ruby was almost enough to make the fact that her parents had barely said goodbye and her brother had told her not to bother coming back, hurt less. Heading across town, she pulled up outside the Buckton house. Sandra was pretending not to cry in the kitchen and Ross and Charlie were lugging bags outside. Ruby ran through Charlie's legs, nearly tripping her up, in order to launch herself into Joey's arms. Grinning happily, the pain of rejection fading, Joey scooped the three year old into her arms and whirled her around.

"We're going to live together! Me, you and Mum!" Ruby declared.

She had a very good grasp of language now and it was easy to have a conversation with her. Just like her mother, Ruby was strong willed, stubborn and very clear about what she wanted. Joey loved her as if she were her own. She felt very lucky to be allowed to be part of her life. "Yes, we are," Joey agreed happily. "Are you excited?"

Ruby nodded certainly. She was desperately looking forward to it, although she would miss Grandpa and Grandma terribly. Smiling, Charlie put the box she was carrying, down and headed over to give her girlfriend and her daughter a hug.

"Today's going to be the first day of the rest of our lives, hey?" she said.

Joey nodded and kissed her. Ross and Sandra appeared. Sandra's eyes were puffy and there was no mistake about it.

"How are you doing, Mrs Buckton?" Joey asked gently, setting Ruby down on her feet again.

"Oh, you know..." Charlie's Mum said. "I bet your Mum was the same."

Joey smiled sadly and nodded. Noticing, Charlie put her arm around Joey and kissed her cheek, suggesting they got everything into the car and headed off. They had to collect the keys at lunch time and she didn't want to be late.

* * *

Four hours later, Charlie, Joey and Ruby were standing in the box filled living room of their new flat. It was a first floor apartment with a little balcony and two bedrooms. They had a lot of work to do to get everything nice and before they'd left, Ross and Sandra had given them money to buy all the essentials that they would need such a plates and cups and knives and forks – all the things that they both took for granted at their parents' houses.

"What shall we do first?" Charlie asked.

"McDonalds!" Ruby squeaked.

Both women burst out laughing at her jubilant certainty.

"Well, to be fair, we don't have any food..." Joey reasoned.

"McDonalds! McDonalds!"

Groaning, Charlie agreed. Leaving their apartment in disarray, they headed out to explore the world around them and treat themselves to junk food.

"I swear she just likes the toy," Joey said as they headed out into the car park.

* * *

That night, with the apartment still very messy, Charlie and Joey had given up on unpacking, although with Ruby tucked up in bed, at least she wasn't causing havoc by messing up everything they tidied away. Apparently, this was a hilarious game to play.

"Bed?" Joey suggested.

Charlie smiled at the glint in her eye. She nodded and they headed to their room. Closing the door, Joey wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Just think," she said softly. "Years from now, we'll be looking back at this as our very first home together."

Charlie smiled and returned her kiss.

"Yep," she said. "How amazing is that?"

"Pretty amazing," Joey decided. "And I um... I hear that christening the bedroom on the very first night is essential."

Charlie grinned and they moved back onto the bed they'd bought online and just about managed to get delivered on the right day.

"Is that right?" she asked.

Joey nodded, kissing her ever more passionately.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

_Two Years Later..._

Charlie hauled herself out of bed, somewhat reluctantly. Yawning and stretching, she padded out of the room and found Joey and Ruby singing nursery rhymes in the kitchen as they made breakfast together. Well, Joey was making breakfast. Ruby was making a mess.

"Mum!" Ruby bellowed in her usual overzealous way.

She almost tumbled off the stool in her hurry to get down and say good morning to her mother. She crashed into Charlie's legs and squealed when Charlie picked her up and cuddled her. Even though she was getting far too heavy for such things now, Charlie popped the five year old on her hip and shuffled across the room to kiss Joey good morning. Joey returned her kiss and announced she was making pancakes as a treat.

"So I see," Charlie grinned, kissing her one more time.

She put Ruby in a chair at the table.

"Hey!" Ruby squeaked. "I was helping!"

She pouted in the adorable way that she had recently perfected. Charlie laughed and put the spare batter mix bowl that Joey had provided in front of her with a whisk. Ruby resumed her mess making while Charlie tackled coffee.

"What do you want to drink, Rubes?" Charlie asked.

"Juice!"

Charlie shook her head, wondering why they had the same conversation every morning. She turned to face her with a raised eyebrow.

"Orange," Ruby said more quietly. "Please."

"Good girl," Charlie said with a grin.

She poured her daughter some orange juice in her favourite beaker and set it down in front of her. She and Joey were trying to teach Ruby to be specific and remember her pleases and thank you's.

"Thank you," Ruby said proudly.

She took a loud sip and then continued playing with her pancake mix.

"Okay, girls," Joey said. "We are done."

Charlie sat down with two cups of coffee – one for her and one for Joey – and Joey served their food.

"What does your day look like today?" Charlie asked.

"Moderately entertaining," Joey said. "Got a fair bit on at work."

Since they had moved to their flat from Summer Bay, Joey had taken up a mechanic apprenticeship part-time. Now that Ruby was at school until three each day, she had increased her hours and she and Charlie took it in turns to pick their daughter up from school.

"You?"

"Paperwork," Charlie frowned. "I always thought being a cop would be more exciting!"

Joey giggled. Ruby laughed too and continued munching on her food. Theirs was a happy life. They had come through a lot in order to live the way they wanted to now. It had been scary to move to the big city from Summer Bay but they were proud of themselves for making it work. Charlie was a Constable in the local police force and Joey was doing well at the garage. Ruby had blossomed into such a happy child and she seemed to be thriving at school. They'd found a nice church, recommending to them by Elijah and they were even saving up for a short holiday in the summer. They returned every now and again to the seaside to see their families and both sets of parents had visited them at the flat – Charlie's parents more regularly than Joey's.

* * *

The day continued. Charlie was partnered with a new girl called Watson and they were off patrolling together. She seemed like a nice woman and they were of a similar age so Charlie hoped they could become friends.

"So, have you been in the force long?" Watson asked from the passenger seat.

"Only a year," Charlie said. "How about you?"

"A couple of years," Watson said.

"How come you transferred here?"

"Bad breakup," Watson admitted.

"Oh dear!" Charlie said with a commiserating smile.

"Have you always lived here?" Watson asked, wanting to learn about her new companion.

"I grew up here," Charlie said. "But I spent a few years living down by the coast. Then I wanted to train so my partner, my daughter and I moved back here a couple of years ago."

"You have a daughter?" Watson asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Charlie said with a smile. "Her name's Ruby. She's five now. Just started proper school."

Watson looked incredulously at her. Charlie seemed awfully young to be a Mum.

"Um... how old are you?" she asked. "You know, if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm twenty," Charlie said unfazed.

"Oh."

Charlie turned to look at her and grinned.

"Yes, I'm too young to have a five year-old," she said. "But, it just how life turned out."

Watson smiled back.

"You've been with your boyfriend a long time then?" she asked.

Charlie chuckled.

"Joey's my girlfriend but yeah, we've been together since we were fifteen."

Watson just stared. Charlie laughed.

"Well, I'm relieved not to be the only gay in the village," Watson finally said.

Charlie giggled, deciding that they were definitely going to be friends.

* * *

Ruby sat at her tiny desk in her tiny seat in the classroom. They were meant to be drawing pictures of their family, including everyone who lived with them at home. It wasn't the easiest task in the world. She hadn't quite mastered the art of drawing, although she did enjoy learning. Sitting back, she studied her picture and hoped that her scribbles mildly represented herself, her Mum and her Joey.

"Why aren't there any boys in your picture?" asked a voice behind her.

Ruby frowned and turned to find Matthew Lyons standing behind her. She hadn't liked him from the first day. He was mean to a lot of people. Beside her, Ruby's best friend Annie stopped drawing and looked at him too.

"That's who I live with," Ruby said.

"So, who are they?"

"That's me and my Mum and My Joey," she said, pointing to each figure in turn.

"Is Joey a girl?"

Ruby nodded.

"You live with lesbians!" Matthew suddenly bellowed, making Ruby and Annie jump as well as the rest of the class.

Ruby felt confused as Matthew began to jeer.

"You live with lesbians! You live with lesbians!"

Their teacher, Miss Fletcher approached.

"I don't!" Ruby protested. "What's a lebanon?"

"Your Mum lives with a girl as if she was a boy! They're lesbians! Ruby lives with lesbians."

"Matthew!" Mrs Fletcher snapped. "Go back to your seat."

"Ruby's weird! She lives with lesbians!"

"Shut up!" Ruby said defensively.

"That must mean that you're a lesbian too!" Matthew declared.

"But I'm..." Ruby protested.

"Matthew! Sit down!" Miss Fletcher bellowed.

A little stunned, Matthew went back to his seat. Miss Fletcher approached Ruby and settled her down. Ruby frowned at her picture until her teacher told her that it was very good. She moved away and back to her desk. Ruby turned to Annie.

"What's a lesbinam?" she asked.

Annie shrugged. She had no idea either.

* * *

Joey put the bonnet of the car she was working on, down, and smiled, pleased with her work. She headed over to wash her hands and told her boss, Shane Parrish that she was done for the day.

"Sure thing, Joey," he said cheerfully.

He was a nice guy and Joey got along with him and their colleagues. He'd taken her on with pretty much no experience and now she felt like she was developing a proper career.

"See you on Monday."

"See you."

He waved and Joey headed to her own car in order to pick Ruby up from school and then Charlie from work.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Joey parked at the school and went to stand in the playground with all the other parents. She watched Miss Fletcher exit the classroom and line all the kids up. The idea was that when the children spotted their parents, they raised their hand and then their teacher allowed them to go to them. Ruby spotted Joey immediately and grinned, raising her hand. When Miss Fletcher said she could go, she bounded towards Joey and hugged her. Joey wondered when Ruby would stop being so excited to see her parents after time apart. She hoped it wouldn't be soon.

"How was your day?" Joey asked as they headed back to the car.

"We did pictures," Ruby replied. "It was okay."

She lacked some enthusiasm after Matthew had started teasing her. She'd caught him mouthing words and glaring at her several times during the course of the afternoon and she had no idea why. She wondered if she ought to ask or just forget about it. It wasn't like Matthew was popular. Ruby was far more popular than he was. She wasn't very worried.

* * *

At five o'clock, Joey was crashed out on the sofa and Charlie was cooking dinner. Ruby stood between the kitchen and the lounge, puzzling over which parent to approach. Opting for Charlie, she came into the kitchen and plonked herself down in a chair, folding her arms on the table.

"Hey, baby girl," her mother said pleasantly.

Ruby looked a little glum, like she had something on her mind.

"Are you okay?"  
Ruby continued to look unhappy. Charlie came to sit next to her.

"What's up?"

Ruby looked up at her with big eyes.

"Mum, what's a lebnamon?" she asked.

"A what?"

"Lesbidon?" Ruby tried again.

"Oh," Charlie said. "Um... that's a conversation for the couch."

"The couch can't talk," Ruby pointed out.

Life was getting even more confusing. Charlie chuckled and ruffled her hair. Taking her hand, she led her into the lounge.

"Joey!" she called.

"Sleeping!" Joey replied, not moving.

"Ruby wants to know what a lesbian is."

Joey jolted up and rubbed her eyes.

"Awake," she managed.

She welcomed Ruby into her arms and Charlie took a seat on the sofa. They'd known that at some point they would have to explain. It just felt a little early to do so right now. But still, they wanted their daughter to have all the facts from them, not learn it on the playground. They wanted to protect her.

"So?" Ruby asked expectantly. "What's a lesbigon?"

Joey couldn't help but laugh and find Ruby's pronunciation endearing. She cuddled her.

"Why don't you tell us where this has come from first?" Charlie suggested.

"Well, I was at school and we were doing pictures and we had to draw our family so I drew me and you and My Joey and it was all nice and even Miss Fletcher said that my picture was good but then this horrible boy, Mathew came and he started making fun of me and saying that you were lesbinons and that I was too, and I don't think I am but then I could be because I don't know what a lebadon is, so, what's a lesbatron?"

"Ruby, breathe," Joey said gently.

It was cute but worrying that their child could ramble on without so much as taking a breath. Ruby obeyed and sank back against Joey, waiting for some kind of answer.

"Okay," Joey said. "Well, you know that your Mum and I are in love?"

Ruby nodded.

"Well, the thing is... there are different types of people in the world. There are girls who like boys and boys who like girls, and girls who like girls and girls who like boys. And some boys and girls like both."

Ruby nodded, wondering why Joey was telling her something she already knew very well.

"So?" she asked.

"Well, um... girls who like girls..." Charlie ventured. "Girls like me and Joey... well, people call those girls lesbians."

Ruby looked unimpressed.

"So, why was he being mean to me about it?" she asked.

"Well, because some people don't think that girls and girls or boys and boys should be in love with each other," Charlie said.

Ruby looked and felt puzzled.

"Why not?"

"It's not something we've figured out yet but there are people who think that it's wrong."

"But it's not wrong."

"No, it's not," Joey agreed. "It's just that some silly people think that it is."

"So, the big deal is that you're both girls?" Ruby clarified.

Charlie and Joey nodded.

"That's dumb!" Ruby said, pulling a face to show her disgust. "I thought it was something important."

Joey and Charlie smiled at each other, feeling rather proud of how accepting and open hearted their daughter was.

"Why is he picking on me?"

"Because he like judging people," Charlie said. "He's not like you. And because you're so beautiful and wonderful that he can't think of anything else to tease you about."

"See, people who pick on other people are just cowards," Joey said, thinking of Robbo. "They're not happy with themselves and so they tease other people to make themselves feel better. And that was obviously all he could think of."

Ruby nodded and studied both her mothers' faces, processing what they had told her.

"Can I go play now?" she asked.

They nodded and Ruby scampered off to her bedroom to collect some toys.

"Should we be worried?" Charlie asked.

Joey followed her into the kitchen to check on dinner.

"I'm not sure," Joey admitted.

"What if this kid starts picking on her because of us?"

"Then it sounds like she'll deal with it," Joey said, although she was no stranger to the concept of homophobic bullying and was therefore also worried. "And we'll help her. What we told her is true. She's beautiful, bright and funny and she has an army of friends. I don't think she's in any danger of ending up sad or lonely."

Charlie nodded and began to serve their meals, hoping that Joey was right.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

The following week, Charlie and Joey dropped Ruby off at school. It was Friday and they had one more day of work left before they were heading back to Summer Bay for the weekend to visit their families. Ruby was looking forward to it more than her parents. She had happy memories in that town but while Charlie and Joey had found each other there and begun building their life together, the place held very little love for them. It was home to bullies and people who had made their lives difficult, especially Joey's. Joey waited in the car while Charlie walked Ruby to her classroom. Ruby hugged her mother goodbye and then skipped off to her desk. Heading back to the car, Charlie dropped Joey off at work, kissed her goodbye and promised to finish work on time so they weren't late for dinner.

It was play time and Ruby and her friends were running around on the playground, playing chase. Giggling, Ruby scampered away from Geoff. She looked down in time to see a small foot shoot out in front of her but was unable to stop herself tumbling to the ground. She looked up to see Matthew standing over her looking mean. Geoff, Annie and Jai approached, willing to back their friend up if she encountered any trouble.

"Ha, ha!" Matthew mocked to his gaggle of friends. "Ruby fell over!"

"You tripped me!" Ruby snapped, standing up and stamping her foot angrily.

"My Dad said you should go into care," Matthew jeered.

"What care?" Ruby asked, utterly confused.

"You should go and live in a kid's home because it'd be better than living with two Mum's! Your Mum shouldn't be allowed to have you!" Matthew said.

"Shut up!" Ruby yelled. "My Mum is perfect!"

"Your Mum's a dyke!"

Matthew turned to his friends and laughed. He turned back to Ruby who promptly punched him in the face.

* * *

Charlie hung up the phone and sighed heavily. Miss Fletcher, Ruby's teacher had phoned and asked that she and Joey come and speak to her when they picked their daughter up from school. With last week's problems still on her mind, Charlie couldn't help but worry. Had that boy been horrible to her again? Was she okay? Miss Fletcher had said she was fine but that there had been an argument in the playground and she just wanted to touch base and discuss it. Picking her phone back up, she called Joey and told her what had happened.

"Is she okay?" Joey asked worriedly.

"I think so," Charlie replied. "Just some kind of altercation. But hopefully it's nothing too serious."

"It'll be fine," Joey assured her, sensing the worry in her voice.

Whenever there was a problem, Charlie's instinct was to doubt herself as a mother. It made Joey sad but she didn't think her partner would ever quite stop criticising herself for not being as good to Ruby as she could have been during the first few months of her life. But she'd recovered. She'd become a mother to admire. Joey was proud of her. And Ruby's adoration of Charlie was a testament to what a good Mum she was.

"I hope so," Charlie said, sounding a little unsure.

* * *

Sally Fletcher sent the class out with her teaching assistant in order to send the kids off to their parents. She remained in the classroom with Ruby. The little girl was a delight to have in her class but she was troubled by the difficulties she was having with another student. She came over to sit beside her. Ruby continued colouring her picture in.

"What happened today, Ruby?" Sally asked.

"Matthew tripped me up and called my Mum names," Ruby replied, not looking up.

"What did he call your Mum?"

"He called her a duck," Ruby said, putting her pencil down. "I don't know why he said that."

Sally sighed, feeling sure 'duck' hadn't been what the child meant.

"Why does he keep being mean?" Ruby asked. "Why does it matter if I have two Mums instead of a Mum and a Dad?"

"Do you mind?" Sally asked.

"Mind what?"

"Having two Mums?"

Ruby shook her head firmly.

"I love Mum and My Joey," she said sincerely.

Sally smiled. It was nice to see Ruby so sure of herself.

"You're happy at home?" she asked.

"Uh huh," Ruby said. "Mum and My Joey are the best. We have so much fun and this weekend we're going to the beach to see my grandparents. Both sets! And it's always fun there. I lived there when I was little but I don't really remember. Even though it wasn't a long time ago. But that's where Mum and My Joey met. They were at school. And I like my life but Matthew doesn't seem to like me. But I don't want you to tell Mum or My Joey that I hit him because if I'm good, I get ice cream on Friday's but if they know what I did then I might not get any."

She panted a little for breath. Sally smiled. They both looked up when Charlie and Joey entered the classroom. Ruby stood and hugged them both. Sally shook their hands and they sat down at the little table together.

"Ruby, why don't you go and play with the toys in the corner?" Sally suggested.

"Why? I'm still going to listen," Ruby replied bluntly.

The adults chuckled.

"Fair enough," Sally said.

Ruby grinned and took her mother's hand as Sally began to explain what had happened earlier in the day between Ruby and Matthew.

Ten minutes later, the adults had established that Matthew had told Ruby she was better off without her parents, that he had called Charlie a dyke, as opposed to a duck, and that Ruby was very happy at home and didn't understand why her classmate was making such a fuss about her living arrangements.

"I've spoken to Matthew about it," Sally said. "And I've told him in no uncertain terms that he'll be in big trouble if something else happens. I'll be speaking to his parents too if it continues. But for now, I just wanted you to be aware of what was going on. And to let you know that I'm aware. And it's not something I'm prepared to stand for."

"Thanks," Charlie said.

She and Joey got to their feet. Ruby stood up too and looked hopefully at her mother.

"Can I still have ice cream?" she asked.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Ruby sat in the backseat of the car in her little booster seat so that she could see out of the window as her parents drove her from their home to Summer Bay. She was looking forward to seeing her grandparents. They always spoiled her. Visits were always a lot of fun. In the passenger seat, Joey gazed lovingly at Charlie as she drove. They knew they ought to be telling Ruby off for hitting Matthew but they didn't feel it was right to criticise her for standing up for herself and them.

"So, where are we on the ice cream thing?" Ruby chirped from the back.

Joey rolled her eyes and she and Charlie both giggled.

"Okay, you were very naughty hitting that boy," Charlie told her daughter. "But we do understand that you were trying to defend your family. So, we'll let it go so long as you promise not to do it again. Does that sound fair?"

"And the ice cream?" Ruby asked.

"And you can have some ice cream at Nana and Grandpa's house," Charlie confirmed.

Ruby squealed and clapped her hands in delight.

* * *

Arriving at the house and parking in the drive, Charlie, Joey and Ruby knocked on the door. Sandra opened up and immediately greeted them with happiness, cuddling Ruby up against her before leading them all inside. She hugged Charlie and then Joey and said that Ross would be back from work in half an hour and would likely be bringing takeaway from the Diner. Ruby's eyes lit up.

"Ice cream?" she asked.

Charlie groaned and sank into a kitchen chair. Ruby hopped up on her lap and smiled when Sandra said they'd have to have proper food first but that she'd bought ice cream especially and it was safely stored in the freezer.

* * *

That evening, Ross and Sandra were more than delighted to babysit while Charlie and headed round to spend some time with Joey's parents. They weren't entirely sure about their relationship but they accepted it as far as they could. Brett refused to speak to his sister or her girlfriend except to make the odd unpleasant comment. Usually when they visited, he went out to the Surf Club with Robbo and for that, Joey was grateful. She was also grateful that Ross and Sandra never had a problem putting her up. And she was sure the fact that Charlie's Dad was Joey's Dad's boss helped him not be too unpleasant about Joey's chosen life partner. Sitting in the lounge, Martin and Erica exchanged pleasantries with Charlie and Joey.

"So, are you enjoying being a cop, Charlie?" Martin asked.

Charlie smiled and nodded.

"It's amazing," she said. "I love it. I feel like I'm really doing something to help people."

Martin nodded in understanding.

"And how's Ruby doing at school?"

"Pretty good," Charlie said. "She's popular and she's coming on leaps and bounds with her words and numbers."

Both women silently agreed not to mention the problems she was having with her classmate. It was something they would happily talk about with Charlie's parents but not Joey's.

"That's great," Erica said. "She's a very bright little girl. Will we get to see her on this trip?"

"Sure," Joey said.

Her parents had sat her down many years ago and questioned the logic of Joey taking on a woman and her child. But they had relaxed enough to accept Ruby as at least a 'sort of' granddaughter.

"And how's the mechanic apprenticeship, Joey?" Erica asked.

"Ugh, dyke bitch doing a dyke job!"

Brett spoke as he stormed into the room with Robbo in tow. Charlie inched a little closer to Joey, knowing how threatened she felt around Robbo. She could only imagine what she would be like if she was faced with Grant. And Robbo had done exactly the same thing to Joey.

"Brett!" Martin snapped.

Joey held Charlie's hand uncertainly.

"What?" Brett asked.

"Don't talk to your sister that way. There is nothing wrong with how Joey lives her life."

"Not what you say when she's not sitting in front of you," Brett shot back.

Martin glared at his son and then turned back to Joey.

"You know we don't have a problem with you and Charlie," he said gently.

Joey nodded but she wasn't entirely sure how her parents felt about her.

"She's a dyke raising some kid that got nothing to do with her!" Brett said.

Robbo watched with silent interest, proud of the way he seemed to still have an effect on Joey.

"At least I don't still live with my parents and hang out with my loser of a best friend," Joey snapped.

"Shut the hell up!" Brett argued, getting into her face aggressively. "There's nothing wrong with my life. At least I'm normal. At least I'm a good person!"

"Shame your mate's a rapist then!" Joey said.

She blanched when she realised what she'd said. Retaining hold of Charlie's hand, she fled the house.


	21. Chapter 21

_Now, just to warn you, I am going on holiday next week so your last update will be on Saturday. And then I will be back to update you the following Sunday or Monday. But I hope you enjoy everything up until then. And I sincerely thank you for all your readings and reviewings. You make me so happy! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty One**

Out in the fresh air outside the house, Joey struggled to catch her breath. She bent over, resting her hands on her knees, trying to calm down. Worriedly, Charlie rubbed her back and when she had straightened up again, she pulled her into a hug. She fell tears fall on her shoulder and held her a little closer.

"What happened there?" Charlie asked.

Joey looked up and wiped her eyes. She was pale and frightened.

"I just... snapped."

Charlie hugged her again and kissed the top of her head.

"Let's go home," she suggested.

She glanced at her watch.

"Ruby will be in bed but she might not be asleep yet so if we're lucky, we can have a cuddle when we get home. How does that sound?"

Joey managed a smile and nodded. They turned to leave but paused when they heard Joey's name being called. Turning back, they saw Joey's father standing on the doorstep looking distraught. Timidly, Joey approached him, tugging Charlie along with her.

"Was that true?" Martin asked. "What you said in there? Did Robbo rape someone?"

He felt sick with fear that Joey might have been his victim. He desperately that it was just something she'd heard on the grapevine. Joey clutched Charlie's hand and nodded.

"Who?" he asked.

Joey sighed. More tears began to flow. She sank down on the bench on the front porch. Charlie sat on one side of her and Martin took the other.

"Do you remember that summer when I started putting on weight?" Joey asked, staring out into the dark.

Martin nodded.

"I wasn't fat," Joey said sadly. "I was pregnant."

"You were twelve!" her father almost shrieked.

Joey shrugged.

"How could you be pregnant at twelve?" her father asked. "You were just a baby..."

Joey swallowed. She never thought she'd see the day when she was actually discussing this.

"What... what happened? You didn't have a baby. Did you?"

"I miscarried," Joey said. "I lost him."

She swallowed but the lump in her throat ached.

"And it was Robbo who...?"

Joey nodded. Charlie put her arm around her.

"And he... he raped you?"

Martin had almost whispered the offending word. Tears stung his eyes. Suddenly he stood up and turned back towards the house. Joey leapt to her feet as well. So did Charlie.

"What are you doing?" Joey asked.

"I'm going to kill him," Martin said, storming into the house.

Joey and Charlie hurried after him, arriving just in time to find Robbo pressed up against the wall while Martin held him roughly by his collar.

"I didn't do anything!" Robbo protested.

For all his swagger, he had always been a little afraid of Martin Collins.

"You raped my daughter!" Martin exploded. "You got her pregnant."

Erica audibly gasped. Brett's eyes widened. He stepped up to his father.

"Dad, she's lying!"

"She's not," Martin said firmly and slammed Robbo against the wall again. The younger man was obviously winded as he struggled against Martin's grip.

"Of course she's lying!" Brett said. "If she'd have got pregnant, don't you think we would have known about it? Where's the damn baby for fuck's sake?"

"Don't swear!" Erica snapped, knowing at the time that her scolding was pathetic in such a situation.

She stared at her daughter in horror. Had all of this really happened? Why would she lie? How could they never have known?

"Well?" Brett said, ignoring his mother and facing his sister. "Where's the baby? I don't remember you going into labour!"

"The baby died," Joey said quietly, looking at the floor. "I miscarried. I was too young and undeveloped to..."

She sank into a chair. Charlie sat beside her. Martin instructed his wife to get his handcuffs off his work belt.

"Dad?" Brett pleaded. "Come on! This is ridiculous! Just because it happened to Charlie, Joey's making up lies to be like her or something like that!"

Erica ignored her son and did as her husband instructed. Martin officially arrested Robbo and then called the police station for his colleagues to come and collect them.

* * *

It was eleven o'clock by the time Charlie and Joey arrived back at Charlie's parents' house. Ross and Sandra were still awake and immediately worried about the state their daughter and her girlfriend were in.

"What happened?" Sandra asked. "Are you okay? Did dinner not go well?"

Joey looked helplessly at Charlie. She deeply regretted saying anything. She hated people knowing what had happened to her. Even her family. Especially her family.

"It's complicated," Charlie said apologetically. "Can we talk in the morning?"

Sandra nodded uncertainly.

"Did Rubes get to sleep okay?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, she was out like a light after her little ice cream rush!"

Charlie looked stern.

"More ice cream?" she challenged.

"I'm her grandmother!" Sandra said. "I'm allowed to treat my granddaughter once in a while, aren't I?"

"She's going to turn into an ice cream at this rate," Charlie remarked. "But yes, visiting you guys is a special occasion so I don't mind."

Mother and daughter smiled at each other before Charlie led Joey up to bed.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, in the private darkness of their room, Charlie and Joey held each other close. Charlie kissed the top of Joey's head as her girlfriend wept, shuddering in her arms and feeling like her world was ending.


	22. Chapter 22

_In celebration of the end of the Big Brother era and my favourite three still being in the house... here is an extra update for you! I hope you like it. And I'm likely to do another couple of updates tonight too so I hope you enjoy them as well. Then, it's one more update tomorrow and I shall bid you farewell for a whole week! What am I going to do without you! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Joey stayed in bed the next morning, feeling entirely incapable of facing the world. Charlie cuddled her and told her she thought she was brave for telling the truth. Joey just thought she'd been stupid and made a horrific mistake.

"Let me get you some breakfast," Charlie said.

Joey neither agreed nor disagreed so Charlie kissed her and slipped out of the room. Joey remained resting against the pillows, keeping her eyes closed.

* * *

Downstairs, Charlie found Ruby watching cartoons with Sandra.

"Mummy!" the youngster squeaked, leaping up and giving Charlie a hug.

Charlie wondered when Ruby would stop being excited to see her after a mere night's sleep apart. She could barely remember the time when she had struggled to show her daughter love and affection.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

Ruby nodded and began to explain her dreams in minute detail. Charlie sat down on the sofa with her, beside her mother in order to listen. When Ruby had exhausted the conversation, she scooted back down to continue watching cartoons.

"Your father called," Sandra told Charlie. "He told me what happened with Robbo."

Charlie sighed and nodded.

"Did you know about what happened to her?"

"Not straight away but yeah, I've known for years," Charlie said. "I guess it's yet another thing that binds us together."

Sandra nodded and sighed.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

"Not really," Charlie admitted. "I'm not sure we'll see much of her today. She thinks she was stupid to say something. She's feeling pretty low. I've just come down to get her some breakfast."

* * *

Two hours later, the news of what had happened with Robbo was officially all round town. Joey was still in bed and refused to come out. Charlie divided her time between playing with Ruby and making sure Joey was alright. Lying on the bed beside her, she held her partner's hand.

"Do you want to go home?" she asked. "We can pack up the car right now and go back if you want."

"But you want to spend time with your family," Joey pointed out.

"It's fine," Charlie said. "We can come another time."

Joey sighed heavily, supposing she ought to try and face her demons. For starters, she didn't want to press charges. She needed to tell her Dad that she just wanted to forget the whole thing and move on.

"It's up to you," Charlie said. "We can do whatever you want to do."

"Mummy?" came a small voice. "My Joey?"

They looked up to find Ruby hauling herself onto the end of the bed. With no thought for crushing either woman, she scrambled up to the head of the bed and sat on Joey's chest. Proudly, she presented her with a drawing.

"What's this?" Joey asked curiously, taking the piece of paper.

Ruby cheerfully explained that she's drawn her a picture of their family and that she hoped it would make her happy instead of sad like she was now. Joey couldn't help but smile. She hugged Ruby and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm definitely happy now," she said. "Thank you."

Ruby beamed at her and then at Charlie, pleased to have helped.

"So can we go and play in the sunshine now then?" she asked.

* * *

In order to make Ruby happy and pull herself out of her own misery, Joey had agreed to go and play on the beach. They'd stopped off to see Joey's Dad. She'd told him that she didn't want to press charges but he had just about managed to change her mind. She had hesitantly agreed to make a statement later that day. Robbo was still being held in custody. Her father had told her he would never forgive himself for not knowing what his daughter had been through and had told Brett in no uncertain terms that he was not to bring Robbo anywhere near their house, should he ever see the light of day again. Having exhausted themselves on the sand, Charlie, Joey and Ruby had gone to the Diner and the two adults at least, were aware of the looks that were being shot in their direction.

"What would you like?" Charlie asked her daughter.

"Milkshake," Ruby replied without hesitation.

"You need something proper."

"Milkshake."

"Something to eat!"

"Milkshake."

Joey snorted with laughter as the milkshake debate continued.

"If you don't order something, I'll order for you," Charlie warned.

"Milkshake," Ruby said.

Charlie looked helplessly at Joey who finally stepped in.

"Rubes, you know the rule," she said.

Ruby sighed loudly and pouted.

"Milkshake," she mumbled.

Eventually, they settled her on a children's portion of lasagne and if she ate it all up, she'd be allowed a milkshake. She continued to pout but looked moderately happy with the compromise.

"Joey?" said a shy voice behind them.

All three girls turned to find Aden standing over them looking anxious. While Aden had never been explicitly horrible to Joey at school, they hadn't been friends for the most part either.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," he said.

"What for?" Joey asked.

He glanced at Ruby who was gazing at him with rapt attention.

"For everything," he said. "If the rumours are true, you were pretty much going through hell when we all abandoned you. I'm sorry."

Joey forced a smile and told him it didn't matter.

"Well, I just wanted you to know I'm sorry," he said.

"Thanks," Joey replied. "If it helps, I never really blamed you. You were the least of my problems back then."

Aden nodded and shuffled away. Joey turned back to Charlie.

"That was weird," she said.

Charlie nodded.

"Nice though," she said. "From everything you told me about life before we met, it sounds like you're owed a fair few apologies."

Joey shrugged and ruffled Ruby's hair.

"I don't need them," she said. "Everything I do need is right here."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

_Six Years Later..._

Senior Constable Charlie Buckton was twenty-five years old and flying high at work. Joey had recently been promoted to manager of the garage she worked at, which meant a pay increase and a lot more responsibility. Robbo had been tried, prosecuted and sentenced to ten years in prison after four more girls had followed Joey in speaking up about rape. Eleven year old Ruby was a few days away from going to 'big school' with her best friends Annie and Jai. Geoff had already gone two years before and Ruby was a mixed bag of nerves and excitement. For now, she was enjoying the holidays. She spent the weekend with both her parents, her Joey took Fridays off to look after her and her Mum had changed her Monday shift in order to spend the day with her, working in the evening instead. For the rest of the week, Ruby went off to the local youth club activities with her friends and she was particularly enjoying getting up to mischief there. And bouncing around on the trampoline. Today was Saturday. Ruby had enjoyed a lie in and was now hanging around the kitchen being a pest.

"Please? Please? Please?" she whined.

Joey turned and fixed her with her sternest glare, pausing in her attempt to make lunch. Ruby batted her eyelashes and offered her most charming smile.

"We took you to see _Toy Story _last weekend," Joey told her.

"But it was good! I want to see it again before school starts!" Ruby insisted. "Annie has seen it like four times!"  
The pre-teen pouted and sank into a chair looking sulky. She folded her arms and put her feet up on the next chair. Charlie cleared her throat as she glided into the room. Ruby removed her feet and decided to try and work on her mother instead.

"We already took you to see it," Charlie said before Ruby could speak.

"But..."

Joey made eye contact with her partner. Ruby studied them both closely as they talked to each other in silence.

"Mum!" she protested. "My Joey! You're excluding me!"

Joey laughed and returned to making lunch. Charlie sat beside her daughter.

"How about a deal?" Charlie suggested. "You clean your room like we've been asking you to do for the last five days and _then _we can go to the movies."

Ruby grinned and clapped her hands in triumph.

"Popcorn?" she asked.

"Don't push it," Charlie and Joey said in unison.

Undeterred, Ruby scampered away to tidy her bedroom.

* * *

By the evening, Ruby was in a very good mood. She had tidied her bedroom and rescued a few mouldy glasses that had somehow, through no fault of her own, got lost underneath her bed. After some tutting, her mothers took her out to the cinema and they had indeed bought a bucket of popcorn for the three of them to share. Ruby had wedged herself between them and retained hold of the bucket throughout as she watched the animation, completely enthralled. Secretly, she hoped that her own toys could walk and talk of their own accord too but she opted to keep that though private. Charlie and Joey held hands around the back of her seat and their daughter pretended not to notice.

"Goodnight, Mum. Goodnight, My Joey," Ruby said, when she presented herself in her pyjamas and promised that she had brushed her teeth.

Charlie and Joey were enjoying a glass of wine on the sofa.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Charlie said.

"Goodnight," Joey added.

She came over to give them both a hug.

"Thank you very much for taking me to see _Toy Story _again," she said politely.

They grinned and hugged her again. She kissed both their cheeks and then headed up to bed.

"Make sure you bring that glass back down in the morning!" Charlie called after her.

"Uh huh!" Ruby replied at the top of the stairs but Charlie doubted she would.

The poor glasses repeated the same cycle every week and it was a pattern that was likely to continue. When she heard Ruby's door close, Charlie turned to Joey and put her arms around her.

"I can't believe she's already on her way to high school," Charlie said. "How did this happen?"

"Well, eleven years passed and..."

Charlie tapped her nose and told her not to be a smart arse. Joey giggled and kissed her.

"But that's why you love me!" she protested.

Charlie leant in and kissed her, holding her a little closer.

"There are many, many reasons why I love you," she purred.

They kissed again, deepening it until Joey tumbled back on the couch with Charlie leaning over her.

"I like the way you love me," Joey said honestly. "I'm the luckiest person in the world to have you."

Charlie blushed. Joey had never been shy of giving compliments but Charlie still struggled to take them.

"You make me feel like the most special woman in the world," she admitted.

Joey kissed her again.

"You _are _the most special woman in the world," she said. "You make me feel complete."

Charlie brushed her lips along Joey's jaw and down her neck to her collarbone. She ran a hand up and down her girlfriend's body. Eleven years together and they fell more deeply in love as each day passed.

* * *

On Monday morning, Charlie and Joey drove Ruby to Annie's house so that they could walk to school together with Geoff. The school was only down the road but Charlie still felt nervous about it all. She'd wanted to drive her daughter to the school and walk her into the building but Ruby had begged for some independence and they'd compromised. Geoff was a nice boy and they trusted him to look after their girl. Ruby had a good group of friends that they both knew and got along with. It didn't stop Charlie worrying but she knew she was panicking less than she might otherwise have been.

"Now, you make sure you ring me if you need anything," Charlie said.

"I will," Ruby said. "I swear."

"Charlie, she's a big girl," Joey said, tugging her girlfriend's hand. "And she's a good girl too. Everything will be fine."

Ruby beamed at her and watched them head out of the house.

"Bye, Mum!" Ruby called cheerfully. "Bye, My Joey!"

Her parents waved and headed off. In the car, Charlie exhaled loudly. Joey squeezed her hand.

"We've got an hour before we're both due into work," she said. "How about we go for breakfast?"

Charlie smiled and squeezed her hand.

"That sounds good to me," she said.


	24. Chapter 24

_Hi everyone. I hope you're still enjoying this story. I've just finished it but there are a good few chapters left to go. And right now, we're joining little Ruby on her first day of high school. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Ruby sat in her first class of the day with Annie and Jai. She was glad that nobody had to sit in alphabetical order and she could therefore be with her friends. She was also glad that Matthew Lyons, the bane of her life was in the furthest corner away from her. He had made life somewhat difficult so far and he took a lot of pleasure in telling every new person they met that her parents were gay. Starting a whole new school probably felt like a dream come true. "Okay, guys," their new teacher, Miles Copeland said cheerfully. "This is your registration class. So, you'll need to come here each morning to sign in before you go to your subjects for the rest of the day. And today, I've got you for an hour so that we can all make friends. How does that sound?"

There was a murmur or protest and complaint, mixed with nerves at the prospect.  
"So, who would like to go first?" Miles asked, standing up. "You can get up here and tell your fellow classmates all about yourselves."

Everyone exchanged awkward glances.

"No volunteers?" Miles asked, not terribly surprised.

He picked up the registers.

"Xavier Austin?"

* * *

Charlie and Joey sat in their favourite cafe, having finished off hearty breakfasts before work.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Charlie worried.

Joey held her hand gently, smiling encouragement.

"Of course she'll be okay," she said. "You were just this worried when she started infant school and she was great, wasn't she?"

Charlie nodded. She was particularly proud of the way Ruby adapted to different situations and sailed on through. Thinking about her made her smile.

"She's pretty special, isn't she?" she grinned.

Joey nodded and squeezed her partner's hand.

"She's amazing," she said. "And why wouldn't she be? She has you for a mother."

Charlie blushed, leaning in for a kiss.

"She has you for a mother too," she pointed out. "She's special and she's very, very lucky."

* * *

Ruby's breath caught in her throat as a beautiful blonde boy got to his feet and confidently marched up to the front of the classroom. He had nice hair, a slim physique and pretty eyes. Ruby was instantly smitten. She leant forward, resting her chin on her hand, ready to listen to whatever he had to say. Xavier shoved his hands in his pockets and surveyed the room. His gaze lingered on Ruby, sitting at the back and smiling at him.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Xavier Austin. I've just moved to the city from a beach town on the other side of the country. I live with my Mum and my two older brothers, Hugo and Brendan."

He looked at Miles, wondering what else he was meant to say.

"Anything you want," the teacher told him.

Xavier looked back at Ruby.

"I'm single," he said. "I like playing football and listening to music. I miss the beach but..."

He refused to take his eyes off the prettiest girl in the room.

"But I'm sure they'll be plenty of things here to keep me busy."

* * *

Joey dropped Charlie at work, kissing her goodbye in the car park and then heading to the garage ready to work on a Mercedes that a rich customer had arranged to bring in that morning. For all her confidence, she too felt a little fretful about Ruby. Their daughter was bouncy and sociable, she was capable of handling any situation. But she was still only eleven and Joey remembered far too clearly the perils of high school. She hoped that when she picked her up at three thirty, that Ruby would be full of her usual beans and more, ready to share exactly what she had been up to all day.

* * *

"Thank you, Xavier," Miles said, as the blonde boy sat down.

He scrolled down the register to the next name on the list.

"Ruby Buckton," he requested.

Ruby took a deep breath and got to her feet, focussing on her steps and not tripping over as she made her way up to the front of the class. She glanced at Matthew who already had a look of mockery on his face. She looked at her friends. Annie in particularly was smiling encouragement. Lastly, she flashed a smile at Xavier. He was someone she hoped to get to know better.

"Well, hi," the eleven year old said to the whole class. "I'm Ruby Buckton."

She glanced at Matthew.

"And before my dear friend Matthew decides to gossip about me, I'll tell you proudly that I don't have a Dad. I have two Mums and they've been together pretty much my whole life."

The students who didn't already know her, looked surprised and interested.

"My biological Mum is called Charlie. She's a cop. And my other Mum is called Joey. She's a mechanic. I was born in the city but I lived in a little town called Summer Bay for three years before we came back here for Mum's training. I like pop music and shopping, I spent the summer seeing _Toy Story _at the movies as many times as I could possibly get away with and I have an addiction to milkshakes."

Beaming at everyone, she thanked them for listening and headed back to her seat.

* * *

By the end of the school day, Ruby was in a good mood. Beating Matthew to the announcement that she had two Mums instead of a Mum and a Dad had served her well and she hadn't had any problems. And, better than that, at lunch time, Xavier had approached her and told her she was very brave. Then he'd gone to lunch with her, Annie, Geoff and Jai and Ruby was officially besotted.

"See you guys later," Ruby said, hoping into the car and stealing the passenger seat, knowing full well that Joey would be picking Charlie up on the way.

The eleven year old waved out of the window at her friends who waved back. Then she strapped herself in on Joey's prompting before they pulled away.

"So?" Joey nudged. "How was your first day?"

"Oh, My Joey, it was awesome!" Ruby announced excitedly. "We all had to do this get to know you thing at the beginning of the day and I did mine and it went really well and I beat Matthew to telling everyone about you and Mum because I'm proud of you and Mum and it's nothing to be ashamed of even if Matthew thinks so but he's just annoying and..."

"Breathe!" Joey begged.

Ruby obeyed and apologised. She wondered if she would ever grow out of talking with so much animation. Joey grinned.

"Continue," she said.

Ruby grinned back at her.

"And I totally made friends with this totally cute boy."

"There's a cute boy?" Joey asked, raising her eyebrows. "Already?"

Ruby nodded excitedly.

"His name is Xavier Austin and he's so..."

"Cute?" Joey laughed.

"Exactly!"

* * *

That evening, Charlie, Joey and Ruby ate dinner together amid Ruby's continued stream of excited chatter. She'd mostly willingly knuckled down and got on with her homework and now, with the night drawing in, she was tucked up in bed while Charlie and Joey relaxed on the couch with hot chocolates, feeling like very hardcore and rebellious twenty-five year olds.

"So, what do you make of this Xavier guy?" Charlie asked uncertainly.

Joey sighed and pulled her girlfriend into her arms, having known that this was coming. She'd watched Charlie's reaction to Ruby's description of the 'cute boy'.

"I'm sure he's harmless," she said gently.

Charlie shook her head and asserted that no boy was harmless.

"What if she wants to start dating him or something?" she worried. "What do I do? What do I say? I don't wan her dating boys. She's too young."

"Charlie," Joey said softly. "I'm sure it won't happen in a rush. But she will start dating... and presumably boys... sometime."

Charlie sighed and rested her head against Joey's shoulder. They held hands.

"I don't want her to," she said.

"I know," Joey replied.

It was more than being overprotective and not wanting her daughter to grow up. Charlie was scared.

"If Ruby does want to date this Xavier boy, then we'll handle it," Joey said, trying to reassure her. "It's not like she'll go off and start lying to us. She's honest and respectful. She wouldn't go behind our backs or anything like that. We know that, right?"

Charlie nodded.

"So, if she wants to go on a date with him then, we'll make sure she's safe. We'll take the time to get to know him. We'll make sure he's not a bad kid."

Charlie sat up.

"My parents didn't think..."

Joey looked at her seriously.

"We'll make sure," she said. "Nobody is ever going to hurt our Ruby the way we were hurt. We won't let that happen."

Nodding, although still obviously concerned, Charlie leant in and kissed her.

"Sorry for panicking," she said.

Joey smiled and returned her kiss.

"You have nothing to apologise for," she assured her. "Now, shall we finish our drinks and go to bed?"

Charlie smiled and reached for her mug. That sounded like an absolutely perfect idea.


	25. Chapter 25

_Okay, so I had a little hissy fit about the Charlie and Angelo drivel so I decided to set up a petition to 'Save Our Charlie' and in order to let as many people know about it as possible, here is a link (just take out the spaces) and an extra chapter! Please sign up! petitions. tgiweb. org/ SaveOurCharlie? signedpetition = 1361996147_

**Chapter Twenty Five**

_One year later..._

Ruby was twelve years old and very determined to become a woman as quickly as possible. She devoted far more time to clothes, hair and make up than either Charlie or Joey were comfortable with and she spent every spare second she could with her friends, namely Xavier Austin who she'd had a crush on since the moment she had first laid eyes on him at school. She was eager to get her period and appeared to want to grow up too quickly. But at the heart of it, Ruby respected and adored her parents. She had so far avoided keeping secrets or developing an attitude. She was honest and open with them and still rambled on at a mile a minute until she was breathless.

"Mum?" she ventured over dinner one evening. "My Joey?"

Both her parents offered her their full attention. Ruby took a deep breath but couldn't keep the smile from her face. They'd known from the moment she walked through the door that she had something on her mind.

"Xavier asked me out on a date!" Ruby announced proudly.

Charlie looked stricken and exchanged a worried glance with Joey. Ruby looked between them.

"Why aren't you happy? I've wanted to date Xave for a year! Be happy! Please?"

"We are happy for you, Rubes," Joey said.

She looked at Charlie.

"Aren't we?"

"Uh... yeah," Charlie said.

Ruby put her fork down and studied her mother, trying to puzzle her out.

"What's wrong?"

Charlie smiled and touched her daughter's hand.

"You know what Mums are like," she said. "They always struggle when their baby girl starts growing up."

Ruby smiled back proudly.

"Just because I'm growing up doesn't mean I'm going to love you any less," she said. "I love you and My Joey with all my heart. And I really like Xavier but I love you two more. I love you two more than anyone in the whole world."

Charlie and Joey were both touched.

"And we feel the same about you," Charlie said.

* * *

Friday rolled around and Charlie was more nervous about the date than Ruby was. Their little girl had hurried home from school and enlisted her parents help in getting glammed up. Charlie had agreed to the date on the condition that she and Joey drove the pair of them to the cinema and home again. Xavier had asked Ruby to go for dinner and see a film together. At every turn, Charlie was tempted to stop the whole thing. She didn't want her little girl to grow up.

* * *

That evening, having taken Ruby to her date, Charlie was pacing the living room.

"Charlie, you're going to wear a hole in the carpet," Joey said, a little exasperated. "And we want our deposit back."

Charlie managed to laugh. Joey pulled her down onto the sofa and put her arms around her.

"She's going to be fine," she said. "We know that Xavier is a nice boy. And it's promising that he's taken this long to ask Ruby out. She'll be okay."

Sighing heavily, Charlie closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"You must think I'm really dumb," she said.

Joey moved closer and put her arm around her.

"Charlie, of all people, I think I know what you're afraid of," she said gently.

Charlie nodded and held her hand.

"And I'm scared too," Joey admitted. "I was only a year old than Ruby when..."

She trailed off and chewed her lip.

"And you were only two years older but..."

Joey moved to kneel on the floor in front of her partner, still holding her hands and gazing into her eyes.

"We can't protect Ruby from the world," she said. "We can't wrap her in cotton wool and let no harm come to her. I know we both want to but she has to experience life for herself. What we _can _do is equip her with everything she needs. We've done 'the talk' with her. We've warned her about getting into dangerous situations. We can be the best parents we can be and let's face it, we have the best daughter anyone could have. Ruby respects and trusts us, she talks to us, she's always honest about what's going on. She had no qualms about us driving them to their date and collecting them again. She's going to be okay."

Charlie nodded, trying to let go of her fears. She smiled when Joey reached out to stroke her face. Inching closer, Joey wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist, gently brushing her lips against hers. Charlie smiled into their kiss, feeling calmer and comforted.

"She'll call if she needs anything, won't she?" Charlie checked.

"She absolutely will," Joey assured her.

They kissed again.

"Now," Joey said with a cheeky smile. "We have forty five minutes until we have to pick them up so... why don't we take advantage of having the place to ourselves?"

Charlie grinned as Joey's lips approached again. She hugged her, trailing her kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder, pulling her back onto the sofa.

* * *

Ruby and Xavier walked out of the cinema together, holding hands. When they saw Ruby's parents' car approach, they broke apart, feeling shy. The date had been lovely. And Ruby was relieved that Xavier hadn't done anything more than hold her hand. She wasn't ready for anything more grown up yet. Plus, she got the feeling that her parents would have a fit if her lips went anywhere near his just yet. Smiling at each other, Ruby and Xavier climbed into the back of the car.

"How was the movie?" Joey asked from the passenger seat.

"Oh, it was awesome," Ruby said enthusiastically. "We had a really nice time. Didn't we?"

Xavier nodded his confirmation. He felt like he was already falling in love. Joey reached over to squeeze Charlie's hand as she turned the car around in order to drop Xavier back and then take Ruby home. Their daughter looked unscathed and happy and that was good enough for both of them.


	26. Chapter 26

_I hope you enjoy reading cute Ruby in this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing her! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. Eight chapters to go! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Six**

_One Year Later..._

Charlie forced her eyes open and attempted to will herself out of bed. She'd been told the night before that she had made Sergeant and was on the fast track to promotion after promotion. With her friends and colleagues so proud of her, they'd dragged her off for a drink. Joey had joined them and then they'd collected Ruby, who was supposedly doing her homework at home, and taken her and Xavier out to dinner to celebrate. Their little girl was thirteen years old now and growing up too fast. She was a happy, eloquent, beautiful young woman and neither Joey nor Charlie could feel prouder. And Charlie had very reluctantly stopped panicking about Xavier taking advantage of her daughter. He was a nice boy, far nice than either of the boys had attempted to ruin both hers and Joey's lives. And Ruby had assured them on countless occasions that she had no intention of doing anything more than kiss Xavier for a very, very, very long time. She'd pointed out that it was illegal until she was sixteen and that there was no way she felt ready. And besides, she'd added, she wasn't going to do it until she'd thought about it long and hard and run it by both her parents. That had been a relief and Charlie had just about managed to relax her rules about having Xavier round. After dinner, they had dropped Xavier home. Ruby had scampered up to bed and Charlie and Joey had finished the evening with a glass of wine each and a rather exhausting night of passion. Now, with the alarm continuing to beep at her at five minute intervals, Charlie was desperate to stay in bed and forget about the world. Unfortunately, she had a job to do and a quest to prove that the promotion she'd been given was justified. Plus, Ruby would be awake and expecting breakfast any minute now. Teenager or not, Charlie took pride in preparing breakfast for her daughter every morning. With their busy lives, sometimes it was too easy to lose track of each other. Breakfast meant family time and it was something Charlie refused to let go. She felt soft lips press themselves against her cheek. Smiling, she opened her eyes again and gazed lovingly at Joey.

"Time to get up, sleepy head," Joey said.

Charlie yawned, rolled over and pulled Joey into an embrace.

"You wore me out last night," she grinned.

Joey laughed and kissed her.

"Are you complaining?" she asked.

"Definitely not complaining!" Charlie assured her. "I just wish we could stay here like this instead of having to face the day."

Joey rested her body atop Charlie's, stroking some hair out of her face.

"Well, how about we go face the day, do the grown up thing with jobs and people and everything and then..."

"Then?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"Then we have an early night and I can wear you out over and over and over again."

Charlie kissed her, hugging her close.

"That sounds like the perfect plan," she said.

* * *

As Xavier and Ruby walked to school together that morning, Ruby was worried. Her boyfriend just didn't seem himself. She held his hand.

"What's up, Xave?" she asked worriedly.

He sighed and shrugged but Ruby was persistent. Whenever she was upset, it always helped to talk about it, especially with her parents and she wanted to offer the same listening ear to the boy she was falling in love with.

"It's just my Mum," he said. "I'm worried about her."

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I found a letter," he explained. "You know, from my Dad?"

"Isn't that a good thing?" Ruby asked.

She knew that her boyfriend struggled without his Dad around. His older brother, Hugo, provided very little stability for the family and his father had walked out on them years ago.

"It could be," he admitted. "But I can't help thinking that he's just going to hurt us all again. I mean, I barely remember him but what I'm far too aware of is the pain he caused."

Ruby nodded sympathetically.

"I don't want him coming back into our lives and messing Mum around again."

"Have you told your Mum that you found the letter?" Ruby asked.

Xavier shook his head.

"Maybe you should," she suggested. "I always feel better when I talk things through with Mum and My Joey."

Xavier smiled.

"Your relationship with them is different to mine with Mum's," he said. "I can't talk to her the same way you talk to them."

Ruby nodded and squeezed his hand, still thinking it might help.

"I guess you'd never have to worry about something like this," he said.

"I guess," Ruby said, not entirely sure she understood what he meant.

He smiled at the way she didn't question him.

"You've got a solid parental unit," he said. "You don't need to stress about your folks breaking up or anything."

Ruby smiled but tried not to gloat.

"I am pretty lucky," she said.

"Do you...?" he began.

She frowned when he trailed off.

"Do I...?" she coaxed.

"Do you ever miss your Dad?"

Ruby shook her head.

"You can't miss what you've never had," she said. "I don't need a Dad. I've got Mum and My Joey and that's more than enough for me."

Xavier smiled, finding her ever more endearing.

"But do you... do you ever wonder who he is or...?"

"Nope," Ruby said honestly. "Mum said once that he was a boy at school but... I figure if he was worth hearing about, she would have mentioned him already. But she doesn't talk about him so I haven't asked."

"And you don't care that he's not around?" Xavier asked. "You're not interested where you came from?"

"I came from Mum," Ruby said. "And My Joey's been in my life so long that I think I come from her too!"

She laughed a little self-consciously.

"This is going to sound really dumb but... sometimes... sometimes I wish My Joey _was _my Dad. Well, not my dad because, well, you know, she's a girl but... like my other biological parent somehow."

Xavier squeezed her hand gently.

"That doesn't sound dumb," he said. "It sounds nice."

Suddenly she grinned. She had an idea.

* * *

After dinner, Ruby scurried off to her room. Charlie and Joey exchanged puzzled glances. Ruby thundered back down the stairs and dumped a stack of paper in front of Joey.

"What's this?" Joey asked curiously.

"It's a step by step guide to the process of adoption," Ruby announced.

Joey looked a little unsure. Charlie grinned, liking where her daughter was going with this.

"I want you to adopt me," Ruby said, suddenly feeling a little shy.

"You want me to...?"

"If you want to," Ruby added. "And so long as Mum doesn't mind."

The teenager plonked herself into a chair and gazed expectantly at Joey.

"I was talking to Xavier today, you know... about parents and stuff. And... okay, it sounded dumb then and it sounds dumb now but I'm going to say it anyway. You're My Joey and I love you. And when I was a little kid, I used to wish that you were my Dad. Like... that you and Mum had made me together. And I know it's stupid and impossible but... you're My Joey and I love you. I said that already but... but... well, I looked it all up on the internet today and the social services page said that the partner of a mother or father could apply to adopt. And then... then you'd be my legal parent and not just my emotional one. And you'd have the same rights as Mum. And you deserve the same rights at Mum. Because you're My Joey and I... I love you."

Joey was speechless. She just stared between Ruby and Charlie.

"Would you... would you mind?" Joey asked her partner.

"Of course I wouldn't mind," Charlie said. "I think it's a lovely idea. And I just wish we'd have thought of it sooner."

Ruby beamed at both of them.

"So..." she said. "Will you adopt me, My Joey?"

"I would love to adopt you, Ruby," Joey said certainly. "I can't even describe how happy you've just made me."


	27. Chapter 27

_Hi everyone. The school counsellor mentioned in this chapter is the stupid idiot who compared Angelo to a pair of shoes and made our poor Charlie shred even more of her self esteem and get back with him. I hope you enjoy it. It's been a pretty happy fic so far. We have a little turbulence ahead and by the end of the chapter you will see why but the bond between Ruby and her parents is a damn strong one so don't worry! I hope you like it. Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

_One Year Later..._

"Mum and My Joey are going to kill me," Ruby said unhappily.

She and Xavier sat side by side outside the school principal's office. Matthew Lyons was already being told off separately. It was the first time she had been in proper trouble and she felt sick with nerves. Xavier held her hand and assured her that everything would be okay. He wasn't in trouble. But it was lunch time so he had opted to keep his girlfriend company while she waited for the telling off of a lifetime.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he said.

Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"I punched him in the face and kicked him in the balls," Ruby said. "That's two things! Or three. Or maybe even four. I don't know how specific I was..."

Xavier laughed. It had been pretty funny. Ruby allowed herself a small smile but then she pictured Charlie and Joey's faces and she frowned again. She looked up when the door opened. Matthew stalked out without even looking at her.

"Ruby?" Principal Donald Fisher said.

Ruby nodded and stood up. Xavier hurried away. Ruby followed Mr Fisher into his office.

* * *

Joey was lying beneath a car in the garage, trying to fix it when her mobile rang in her pocket. Not expecting the sound or the vibration, she jumped, hit her head, cursed, slid out from beneath the car and answered the phone. With his head buried in the engine of another car, Shane laughed. Joey poked her tongue out at her boss.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"My Joey?"

It was Ruby.

"Hey, Rubes," Joey said. "Are you okay?"

"Kinda..."

Joey sat in a chair.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I have a detention type thing," Ruby admitted awkwardly.

"What? Ruby, what happened?" Joey asked, shaking her head.

It wasn't like Ruby to get into trouble like that.

"All week," her daughter said lamely. "After school."

"Seriously, what did you do?" Joey asked.

"I might have hit someone," Ruby admitted quietly. "And... and kicked them."

"Ruby!" Joey exclaimed.

Shane eyed her curiously. She shook her head and focussed on the call.

"I'm sorry, My Joey," Ruby said honestly.

She did sound particularly mournful. Joey sighed.

"It's okay," she said. "I mean, it's not but I'm not going to yell at you for it. But what I do expect is for you to come home and explain yourself tonight, okay?"

"I will," Ruby said meekly. "I am sorry."

"I know," Joey said.

* * *

Xavier, Annie, Geoff and Nicole all said goodbye to Ruby at school and headed on home. Ruby glumly made her way to the school counsellor's office. Mr Fisher had decided that a large part of her punishment for attacking Matthew was that she had to talk about her problems. She'd tried to explain that her _only _problem was Matthew picking on her. But her behaviour had been deemed unacceptable and he'd warned her that a letter would be sent home to her parents. Taking a deep breath, Ruby knocked on the door. A well dressed woman opened up and welcomed her inside.

"Hi, Ruby," she said. "My name's Jenny and I was told by Mr Fisher that we had some things we needed to talk about today."

Ruby sank into a chair looking miserable.

"No offence," she said. "But I really don't need to talk through my problems. I don't really have any."

"Well, why don't you talk me through what happened today with... Matthew Lyons?"

Ruby pulled a face at the mere mention of his name. She sighed.

"He's picked on me since I was five years old," she said.

"So, you're a victim of bullying?" the counsellor asked.

Ruby shook her head.

"Not really," she said. "I don't exactly listen to him and I'm way more popular than he is anyway."

She allowed herself a small smile.

"But, you did pay attention to him this time," Jenny pointed out.

Ruby nodded and sighed again.

"So, what did he say that was so different?"

"He told me I should be in care because my Mums are lesbatrons," Ruby said.

Jenny looked confused.

"Lesbians," Ruby clarified. "It's a family joke."

She grinned.

"So, you were raised by two women instead of a man and a woman?" the counsellor asked.

Ruby nodded.

"And how does that make you feel?"

"It doesn't make me feel anything," Ruby said, bewildered.

"You don't feel like you've missed out on something?" Jenny asked.

Ruby shook her head. She couldn't have asked for a better life.

"Even though this is a situation which has led to you being picked on at school?"

"It's only Matthew," Ruby said. "He annoys me but I don't really care. I decked him because he was being a dickhead but I'm not exactly going to take anything to heart. At least I have _two _Mums. He only has one. His Dad walked out on him years ago. And he's the nasty man who started this whole thing, getting Matthew to tease me about my parents."

"What about your Dad?"

"I don't have a Dad."

"Ruby, everyone has a Dad," Jenny said.

The fourteen year old merely shrugged.

"I might have a father out there," she said. "But I don't have a Dad and I don't need one."

"Everyone is entitled to know where they came from, Ruby," Jenny told her. "Your Mums have done you a real disservice by not allowing you to know who your father is. They've left you wanting for things you don't feel you can have. No wonder you're lashing out and misbehaving. You're in pain and you're completely dissatisfied with what life's given you."

"No, I'm not! I'm not in pain. I bet Matthew is though..."

She grinned.

"Ruby, this isn't funny," Jenny said.

The teenager apologised.

"I think you need some regular sessions," the older woman said.

"I really don't," said Ruby. "I'm happy to just do detention."

"You're in a terrible state!"

"I'm not!" Ruby insisted.

"You have lesbians as parents, Ruby. Of course you're in a state."

Ruby shook her head firmly.

"Two women shouldn't be raising a child together," Jenny told her.

Ruby looked appalled and insisted her mother and her Joey had done a fine job with her.

"The fact that you can't say your mother's partner's name without claiming some kind of possession over her is telling enough," the counsellor said.

"I've always called her My Joey," Ruby said. "It's her name."

"You're afraid of the instability they're offering you."

Ruby shook her head firmly.

"Mum and My Joey have been together for as long as I can remember. There's nothing unstable about my family," she said.

"I'm sorry Ruby but this isn't the way a little girl should be brought up," Jenny said.

Ruby stood up angrily.

"Are you saying Matthew's right?" she demanded.

"Of course not," Jenny said. "I'd never advocate you being taken away from your mother. However..."

Ruby glared. Jenny remained calm.

"However, I would certainly invite you to start asking questions about your paternity," she said. "Everyone deserves to know both their parents."

"I do know both my parents."

"Your Joey isn't your parent," Jenny said firmly.

"She raised me!" Ruby insisted.

"It's not the same. Nothing your mother and this woman could give you could replace what you should have been given with your mother and your father, Ruby. They've not been fair to you."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

Ruby came downstairs, having failed to get any study done in her bedroom. When she'd finally got home from school, she and her parents had sat down and she'd explained what had happened with Matthew. Knowing the history and how Ruby had struggled with the boy over the years, they hadn't been too hard on her, although they had firmly stated that physically assaulting someone was never the right thing to do. She had known for a long time that they were both secretly proud of the way she stood up for herself and her family though and that offered a lot of comfort. She'd heard them talking many a time about how much they loved her. And that was why she was feeling so guilty now. She couldn't get her school counsellor's words out of her head. For the first time in her life, she found herself curious about her father. Who was he? What was he like? What did he look like? Did Ruby take after him? How did her mother feel about him back then? How did she feel about him now? Questions invaded her mind and they were confusing her terribly. Suddenly she felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and she didn't know how to unburden herself. At the bottom of the stairs, Ruby peered around the door of the kitchen. Her mother was cooking dinner. They had moved into a house the year before and Joey had fallen in love with having a proper garden to take care of. If she wasn't with Charlie in the kitchen, Ruby supposed she was likely to be outside doing something planty. Silently, she moved to the back of the house and sure enough, Joey was working on a flowerbed. Ruby watched her uncertainly for a while.

"My Joey?" she finally said, her voice coming out as more of a squeak.

Joey turned and smiled at her, standing up and dusting herself off.

"Hey," she said cheerfully, moving towards her daughter. "How's your homework going?"

Ruby shrugged. Joey was immediately concerned about her lack of enthusiasm. Ruby was enthusiastic about _everything_!

"What's up?" Joey asked.

She sat down on a patio chair and gestured for Ruby to do the same. Ruby sat beside her and twisted her hands together.

"Can I ask you something?" she said meekly. "But I need you to promise not to tell Mum."

Joey sighed. She put a gentle hand on Ruby's arm.

"Sweetheart, you know I can't make a promise like that," she said.

Ruby sighed. She was pale and trembling slightly.

"I don't want to upset her," she said.

"What's this about?" Joey asked. "Why would your Mum be upset?"

"I wanted... I wanted to ask about..."

She shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she said, standing up and heading back towards the house.

She stopped when Joey called her back.

"How about we cut a deal?" she suggested.

Ruby moved back to sit next to her.

"I'm listening," she said, grinning for the first time.

"Why don't you tell me what's bothering you and we can decide together if your Mum needs to be told?"

Ruby turned the idea over in her mind a few times and then nodded.

"So?" Joey nudged.

"I wanted to ask... well, um... to ask... to ask about my... my father."

Joey sucked in her breath quickly. She and Charlie had always known the day would come when Ruby started asking where she came from. They'd thought it would be earlier than this. They'd even brought it up themselves a couple of times but Ruby had changed the subject and not been interested in talking about him. Charlie and Joey had been worried and grateful in equal measure but they had left it alone. Ruby looked at her earnestly.

"I... I think that's something you and your Mum need to talk about," Joey said.

Ruby's face fell.

"But you said..."

"I said we'd decide together," Joey reminded her. "But... I never met your father, Ruby. It's not my place to tell you anything like that."

"But you're My Joey," Ruby protested. "And Mum must have told you about him at some point."

"She has," Joey said. "And she'll tell you too."

Ruby frowned.

"But what if she's upset with me?" she asked.

"Why would she be upset with you?" Joey asked.

"She might think she isn't enough..." Ruby ventured. "And she is. You both are. It's just... I've never really cared about finding out about him before. I'm not even sure I want to ask now but..."

She sighed heavily. Joey put her arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Why don't we go inside and sit down with your Mum?" she suggested.

Ruby nodded rather reluctantly and allowed Joey to lead her into the house. They found Charlie in the kitchen. Charlie's smile faded when she saw how serious her partner and daughter looked.

"What's up?" she asked.

Ruby looked earnestly at Joey.

"Ruby was asking some questions about her father," Joey said.

Charlie's face fell. She knew it was unrealistic but she had been hoping to avoid this conversation for the next forever.

"Okay," she said slowly, glancing between the two girls.

She turned and set the timer on the oven and led the way into the living room, wondering how she was ever going to explain to Ruby with sensitivity whilst still being honest.


	29. Chapter 29

_Hi guys. Sorry for the darkness of this chapter, but it had to come! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

Charlie, Joey and Ruby sat together in the lounge. Ruby sat in between her parents and watched the uncertain way Charlie glanced at Joey. Charlie swallowed a few times.

"What... what, um... what's made you ask about your father now?" she asked. "Is it because of what happened with that Matthew boy?"

"Kind of," Ruby said.

She hadn't appreciated the things the counsellor had said to her and she didn't particularly want to share them with her parents. They had upset her and she didn't want to upset them any more than she had already.

"Okay, well, um..."

Charlie hesitated. Joey offered an encouraging smile.

"Well, your father... he was... he was a boy at school," Charlie said anxiously.

Ruby nodded.

"What... what would you like to know about him?"

"What's his name?" Ruby asked.

"Grant," Charlie replied.

"Grant," Ruby repeated. "What was he like? Did you date him for long?"

Charlie glanced at Joey again. She silently encouraged her to be honest but both of them knew that it was easier said than done.

"I went on five dates with him," Charlie told her.

Ruby's eyes widened in surprise. She had never really thought too deeply about her paternity but she had always assumed that her mother and father had been in some kind of serious relationship, even though they had been so young. Suddenly, she thought of another question.

"Was he your age?" she asked.

Charlie nodded and said they had been in the same year at school.

"Was he... was he nice?" Ruby asked. "Was he popular? Good at sports? Good at school?"

She was surprised to find her interest growing.

"He was popular," Charlie confirmed. "And yeah, he was pretty good at most things. Anything he lacked in knowledge, he made up for in charm."

Ruby smiled.

"Did you love him?" she asked.

Glancing at Joey, she apologised, supposing she wouldn't like the idea of her partner liking someone else. Joey put a hand on her shoulder and said she had nothing to apologise for. All eyes turned back to Charlie who shook her head and took a deep breath.

"No, I didn't love him," she said.

"Okay," Ruby said quietly.

She wasn't really surprised. She assumed that if her mother had loved her father, she would have met him, known him and had a relationship with him. Thinking about it now, she knew she had always had a fear that the person who had fathered her, had been a bad man. Looking into her mother's eyes now, she was even more scared.

"Ruby," Charlie began, but she didn't say any more.

Silence fell between them. Charlie took another deep breath.

"Your father," she said. "He wasn't... he wasn't a good person."

Ruby's heart sank at the confirmation.

"Why did you... you know... with him then?" she asked.

Tears pricked at the corners of Charlie's eyes. She rubbed her face vigorously. Joey moved quietly to sit on the floor beside her, placing a gentle hand on her knee. Charlie regulated her breathing. She'd never wanted to tell Ruby the truth. She'd wanted to protect her forever.

"Mum?" Ruby managed.

She felt sick with fear over what might be coming.

"I didn't... um... well, I didn't consent to having sex with your father," Charlie explained.

Tears stung Ruby's eyes the moment she realised what her mother had said.

"Do you mean...?"

"Ruby, it's not really important," Charlie said quickly, reaching for her hand. "It doesn't matter where you came from or how you got here. All that counts is that you're here and Joey and I love you more than anything else in the world."

Ruby stared at their joined hands, tears clouding her vision. She withdrew, never having felt so alienated from her parents.

"Did he rape you?" Ruby asked quietly, needing clarification.

Charlie nodded. Ruby fled.


	30. Chapter 30

_The counsellor will get hers... don't you worry! Love, IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirty**

Joey gathered Charlie into her arms, hearing her cry and watching her tremble.

"Go after her," Charlie begged. "Take care of her. Please."

Joey nodded, kissed the top of Charlie's head and hurried out into the back garden after Ruby. She found their daughter sitting on the swing bench in tears. Her face was buried in her hands and she looked to be crying as hard as Charlie was. Joey came to sit beside her and pulled her gently into her arms.

"She must hate me," Ruby sobbed after a while.

Joey was surprised.

"What? What are you talking about?" she asked softly. "Of course she doesn't hate you."

Ruby sat up and stared at Joey.

"How can she not? I was only born because of what he... what that monster... what did to her!"

More tears flowed and sobs wracked her body. Joey continued to hold her.

"Your Mum loves you," she said. "She'd do anything for you, Ruby. She loves you more than anything in the world."

"I don't understand how," Ruby said tearfully. "How can she not look at me and see _him_? How can she not hate me? How can I not just be a reminder of what happened? How can _you _love me either?"

She broke away from Joey, roughly pulling away and standing up. Joey stood up too, trying to reach her emotionally if not physically.

"You are not your father," she said. "You could never be him, Ruby. You're you. That's all. You're our baby girl and we love you."

"But she shouldn't have even had me!" Ruby said desperately. "Why didn't she get a fucking abortion?"

_Because she left it too late, _Joey thought. She chose to remain silent. She also chose not to curb Ruby's language. It wasn't an appropriate time.

"Your father... what happened, it nearly destroyed her," Joey said honestly. "It's not something that you ever truly recover from. But I can tell you now, with absolute certainty and with my whole heart, that your Mum has never regretted having you and keeping you. You are the single good thing that came out of a terrible ordeal."

Ruby shook her head.

"I just... I just can't understand how she can love me," she said sadly, sinking down onto the floor.

Joey moved to sit cross legged in front of her.

"Because that's what a mother does," she said softly. "No matter what she's been through, no matter how much it hurts and how broken she feels... a mother will look down at her baby and she will love her with every beat of her heart."

Her own tears began to fall and she reached for Ruby's hands.

"It was so hard for Charlie to get her head around everything," she said. "She struggled. She'll admit that readily. When you were tiny, she loved you so much but she found it really hard to express that. But she persisted, she worked on it, she did everything she could to be the best Mum in the world. And she succeeded, didn't she?"

Ruby nodded.

"She's the best Mum in the world," the teenager agreed.

Her tears continued to fall.

"Ruby, it doesn't matter where you came from. It doesn't matter how you were conceived. That's not who you are. You take after your mother, not your father. Your Dad is completely irrelevant to all of us," Joey told her.

"But... hasn't my whole life been a lie?" Ruby wondered.

"How is it a lie to say that we love you? That we'd lay our lives down for you? That we would do everything we possibly could to keep you happy and safe. Every laugh we've ever shared together, all the love and the support, the fun, the ice cream, how proud we've been of you... all of that is true," Joey said. "You're our girl. And we wouldn't trade a thing about you."

"What if I'm evil?" Ruby asked.

Joey's heart broke for her. She reached out and stroked Ruby's messy hair.

"You couldn't be evil if you tried," she said. "I can promise you that."

"How can she love me?" Ruby asked again.

"Because you're my baby," Charlie said softly from the back door.

Joey and Ruby both looked around to find her standing fragile and tearful. Joey beckoned her over and they sat down as a three on the grass.

"I didn't have a good pregnancy," Charlie ventured. "I was depressed. Really depressed. I wanted to die. I felt like he'd destroyed me. And it took a while to get my head around everything but at the end of all that pain, I knew that even from the worst thing that had ever happened to me, I had the best thing that ever happened to me."

Ruby search her eyes, willing her to be telling the truth.

"It was so hard to be your Mum at first," Charlie admitted. "I couldn't hold you and I didn't understand your different cries. I couldn't figure out what they meant. Your grandparents did more for you than I could. I was... I was a terrible Mum."

"That wasn't your fault," Ruby told her. "I can't even imagine..."

She shuddered and looked at the floor. Charlie joined hands with both her daughter and her girlfriend.

"But in time, I managed. Joey... Joey was a big part of that," she said. "She helped me learn to be your Mum, to forget the past and focus on the future that I held right there in my arms. And I can tell you now with absolute certainty and sincerity that when I look at you, all I see is you. I see my beautiful daughter... I see your pretty hair and your beautiful eyes. I smile at your infectious smile and I laugh at your amazing zest for life. I look at you and I feel happy. I feel proud. I've seen you grow up and I've loved every minute of it. I've loved being your Mum, taking care of you, protecting you, teaching you about the world... loving you. You make my world complete, Ruby. Everything... everything I went through... it... it was worth it if it meant having you."

Silently, Ruby moved to curl up in Charlie's arms, resting her head in her lap and closing her eyes. Charlie stroked her hair with one hand and kept hold of Joey with the other.


	31. Chapter 31

_Hi everyone. I am unlikely to update tomorrow as it is the first anniversary of losing my Dad. On the other hand, I might update anyway in order to keep my mind off it. I have no idea how I am going to feel so I thought I would update in advance anyway and you may or may not get an extra tomorrow._

_I just wanted to take the time to say thanks to all of you who last year, were so supportive and good to me during the worst time in my life. All your messages really did mean the world._

_I hope you enjoy the chapter. After this, there are only three left! Love, IJKS xxx_

**

* * *

**

Chapter Thirty One

It was several hours later and the sky had already grown dark when Charlie, Joey and Ruby finally ventured into the house from the back garden. They had talked a fair bit and cried some more. Ruby had told her parents about what the school counsellor had said and they had decided to go and speak to the Principal in the morning. Joey had wanted to track the woman down and give her a piece of her mind that night but Charlie had said it wasn't the best idea. So instead, Joey was on the phone ordering pizza while Ruby lay stretched out on the sofa, her head resting in her mother's lap. Charlie gently stroked Ruby's hair.

"Mum?" the teenager ventured.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Do I remind you of him?"

Charlie swallowed a few times and gazed down at her daughter's pretty face. She pictured Grant Bledcoe. Once upon a time, she had thought him the most handsome boy in the world but when things had gone wrong, even before the rape, his ugliness had seeped through. She continued to play with Ruby's hair and shook her head.

"You're nothing like him," she said.

"Not in looks?" Ruby asked.

She worried that all this time, her mother had been looking at her and seeing a rapist instead.

Charlie shook her head again.

"He was a good looking guy but... well, there was always something kind of harsh about him," she said. "He had very cold eyes. But all I've ever got from you is warmth. Even... even when you were a baby, you were so lovely, Ruby. I found it really hard to cuddle you in the very beginning but you always wanted that. You used to grab my hands and play with my hair and I spent many a night holding you or standing over your cot and telling you that I hoped you knew I loved you."

They both smiled sadly.

"And when you were a toddler, well, you were a dream. You were always so happy and bouncy and playful. Always smiling."

Ruby squeezed Charlie's hand gently.

"You're so beautiful, Ruby," Charlie said gently. "There is nothing of him in you. I certainly don't see him when I look at you, if that's what you're worried about. You don't remind me of him."

"What about in personality? Is there anything there?"

There was a tremble in Ruby's voice, showing she was nervous about the answer.

"No," Charlie said without hesitation. "I promise you don't take after him in any way. You're everything he's not and I am so, so proud of you."

Ruby smiled at her.

"Do you think I take after you?" she asked suddenly.

Charlie looked puzzled for a moment.

"I think you're too wonderful to really take after me," she said.

She admired her daughter. She thought she was amazing. Charlie only wished that she was half as good a person as Ruby was. Ruby sat up and gazed at her Mum.

"You're the best Mum in the world," she said honestly. "Don't be silly."

Charlie chewed her lip in a bid not to cry. The conversational turns this evening had been the last thing she'd expected, even if she had always known it would one day come.

"Well, I like to think you have my eyes," she said quietly. "And you could only get your stubborn streak from me!"

They grinned at each other.

"And I know this sounds weird but you kind of take after Joey," Charlie admitted.

Ruby's grin widened.

"I mean, I know it's impossible but... you two have so much in common. It feels like... well, I guess sometimes I like to pretend that she and I made you together. It's surprisingly easy to forget what actually happened... you know, because we three fit together so well as a family."

Charlie looked down and played with her hands, feeling embarrassed. Ruby moved to lie in her arms again.

"Then let's pretend," she said softly. "Because as far as I'm concerned, I have the two best Mums a girl could have. I am so happy that you were strong enough to be my Mum. And I'm so happy that My Joey met you and that she wanted to be my Mum as well. I feel so sad to know the truth now and part of me wish I hadn't asked but... I guess it's special that all of that can have happened and we're still together. We're still a family."

"We'll always be a family," Charlie assured her.

Hearing a noise behind her, Charlie noticed Joey hovering in the doorway, clearly unsure about interrupting. She beckoned her to join them. Joey smiled. She came to sit on the other end of the sofa, lifting Ruby's legs and allowing her to rest them on her. Reaching out, she held Charlie's hand and whispered that she loved both of them very, very much.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty Two**

That night, Ruby lay in bed feeling better than she had expected. It had taken a lot of talking and tears for she and her parents to work through the truth of what had happened but she felt reassured that they loved her and didn't regret her existence. She was grateful for her mother's honesty over the struggles she'd had when she was a baby. She didn't want anyone to pretend that such a situation had been easy and that the bond had been instant. And she was very grateful to Joey. Her second Mum had played her involvement down but Ruby could imagine that she had helped a great deal. And she'd spoken with too much clarity about how a woman in Charlie's position would have felt for Ruby not to ask questions about her. After some silent communication, Joey had explained that she too had been raped when she was even younger than Charlie had been. She'd said that if things had gone right, Ruby would have had an older brother or sister to look after her but sadly, the baby had died. That had made Ruby extremely sad but again, she was glad to have been told the truth. The last thing she wanted was any more lies to come to the surface. Last night had been the real moment of honesty between herself and parents and she didn't want them tripping over any more secrets in the future.

* * *

In their room, Charlie and Joey lay in each other's arms in the dark. Neither of them could sleep and neither of them really knew what to say. So they held each other in gentle silence.

"I'm proud of you, Charlie," Joey finally said.

"Proud of me?" Charlie queried.

Joey nodded. Charlie couldn't see her but she felt the movement and held her a little closer.

"Today was the day we've been dreading for years," Joey said. "And I know how hard it was for you to tell the truth about what happened and make sure Ruby knew you've always loved her regardless. But you did it. And you did it well. I'm proud of you."

Charlie smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm proud of you too," she said. "It can't have been easy for you to tell Ruby about what happened to you."

"I'm proud of Rubes more than I'm proud of myself," Joey said wistfully. "That was pretty much the most difficult conversation any of us have ever had with each other but... she was amazing."

"Yeah, she was amazing," Charlie agreed. "We've really raised a special little girl there."

Joey nodded and agreed. She leant in and sought out Charlie's lips in the darkness.

"I know tonight hurt but... I think the three of us are stronger for it," she said.

"I think so too," Charlie replied.

She shifted and pulled Joey that little bit closer, stroking her face. She brushed her lips against Joey's again. Joey wrapped her arms around Charlie's neck, eager to pull her closer.

"I love you so much," Joey whispered.

Charlie kissed her again, moving so that she was lying on top of her partner, pressing their bodies together.

"I love you too," she said.

Tenderly, she slipped her hand down between them, stroking from Joey's breasts to her hip and back up again. Joey closed her eyes and smiled as Charlie buried her lips against Joey's neck, kissing her there and making her tingle. Joey moaned as Charlie's lips and fingers began to explore, both of them wanting to show each other just how in love and united they were.

* * *

The following morning, Charlie and Joey arrived at school with Ruby. The teenager slipped out of the car, saying she wanted to dump her stuff in her locker before the meeting with the Principal. Agreeing, Charlie let her go and drove round to find somewhere to park. Ruby strode into the building with purpose. She hadn't told Xavier or her friends anything that had happened the previous night and they couldn't help but feel concerned. Slinging her bag in her locker, Ruby fixed her eyes on the school counsellor who had almost destroyed her life the day before.

"You!" she yelled, causing the woman and several students to turn around and stare at her.

Ruby marched up to the counsellor until she was standing close in front of her.

"You should be sacked!" the teenager yelled.

"Excuse me?" the woman replied, feigning innocence.

"You should be sacked. You were completely unprofessional last night," Ruby accused.

"Ruby, if you need to talk to me, maybe we should go and discuss things more privately instead of airing our dirty laundry in public," Jenny said.

"Why?" Ruby snapped, folding her arms. "You were more than happy for me to get all the dirt off my parents. You wanted to destroy my family!"

Xavier approached Ruby worriedly, standing quietly behind her.

"I intended no such thing..." Jenny said hotly.

"You judged my family. You made me question where I came from."

"If you questioned..."

"You made me ask those questions! And I hate _you _for what I found out."

Charlie and Joey arrived behind her, approaching their daughter quietly.

"Ruby..." Joey ventured.

"I'm making a complaint about you," the teenager declared tearfully, her eyes still fixed on the counsellor. "You and your prejudiced influence shouldn't be in this school. And I'm telling you now, I love my Mum and I love My Joey. You might not think we're good enough but I know with absolute certainty that I have the best parents in the world. I also know I have the worst father in the world and I'm glad I've never met him. I never want to meet him. You might judge us but I'm happy with everything I've ever been given."

Turning around, she grabbed her parents' hands. Together, they made their way towards the Principal's office in order to tell him everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours.


	33. Chapter 33

_Well, here we come to the penultimate chapter and our baby Ruby is really growing up... IJKS xxx_

**Chapter Thirty Three**

_Three Years Later..._

Seventeen year old Ruby arrived home from school to find Joey already back from work and tending the garden. The teenager giggled as Joey sang happily to herself. She was thirty two years old now and only seemed to get healthier, happier and more beautiful. Ruby had studied her own face on more than one occasion, wishing that she could see either her mother or her Joey in her reflection. And it didn't seem to matter how many times they or Xavier told her she was beautiful, she couldn't quite help but feel a little plain. Hearing a giggle, Joey turned and saw her daughter hovering. She smiled, put the pruning shears down and approached, opting to take a break and grab a glass of juice.

"Hey," she greeted warmly. "How was school?"

"Pretty good," Ruby said, following her into the kitchen. "How was work?"

"Fine," Joey said, pouring out two glasses of orange. "Same old. Your Mum will be home in about ten minutes."

"Cool," Ruby said. "Seeing as we're alone..."

Joey handed a glass over and looked a little sceptical.

"Can I ask you something in private? Like... don't tell Mum?"

Joey merely raised her eyebrows. Ruby sighed and sank into a kitchen chair. She'd tried this many times, usually for what she felt were good intentions, but Joey never agreed to keep secrets. Sitting opposite her, Joey asked what was up.

"Okay, you know Xavier and I have been together for five years?" Ruby ventured.

Joey nodded, having a horrible feeling that she already knew where this was leading.

"Well, it's our anniversary next week and... well, we were talking and we think we're ready to... you know."

She blushed. So did Joey.

"Okay..." Joey said uncertainly.

"But... My Joey, how do you really know when you're ready?"

"Ready to what?" Charlie asked, appearing as if from nowhere, decked out in her police uniform.

Ruby blanched. Joey gave her partner an appreciative stare and waited for her to sit down at the table. Ruby looked nervously at Joey who nodded, silently communicating that it was okay to talk about this with Charlie too. She understood the girl's hesitance. Charlie had never coped terribly well with the idea of her daughter growing up and stepping out in the world. For the first year of Ruby and Xavier's relationship, she had panicked terribly over him taking advantage of her precious little girl. She'd relaxed more recently but Joey was all too aware of the risk of her girlfriend's head exploding if she thought Ruby was ready to lose her virginity. Still, it was something they had to face head on, the way they had always faced everything.

"I was um... well, I was just talking about... um... well, me and Xavier were thinking of... we were talking about... _sex._"

She whispered the last word and turned a deeper shade of crimson. Charlie also turned pink and began to stutter over what to say.

"Uh... well, um..." she managed.

"I was just wanting advice on... you know, how you know if you're ready or not," Ruby explained.

Charlie nodded, licking her lips anxiously and turning to Joey for help.

"Well, I guess it's about knowing that you're in love," Joey ventured. "And that you're secure in a happy relationship. Especially the first time. A lot... a lot of people throw their virginity away, like it's a race against time or something. But it's not. It's a special thing between two people who love each other."

"I do love Xavier," Ruby said honestly. "And I think I'm ready. But I'm also a bit scared."

"What are you scared of?" Charlie asked.

She reached out to hold Joey's hand under the table, desperate to handle this conversation well and not let her daughter down.

"Like... what if I don't do it right?" Ruby said worriedly. "What if we don't enjoy it? Or if it goes wrong somehow.?"

Joey smiled gently.

"I guess, if you're going to do it," she said. "It's about learning together. Trusting each other."

"Is that what happened with you two?" Ruby asked. "I mean, ignoring the horror of talking about my parents having sex... I'm aware that you do."

She pulled a face that made Charlie and Joey both laugh.

"So... how did you know you were ready? Did it go well or...?"

"We were around your age," Charlie said. "You were still very young and your grandparents had gone on holiday and left us three alone for the week. We'd been playing house and we'd been talking about it for a while. We were both frightened because of... well, you know. When we first started dating, neither of us were sure if we'd ever be able to be intimate with someone. But we trusted each other and it developed very naturally."

"So, it just happened?" Ruby asked.

"Pretty much," said Joey. "I mean, we had talked about it but we didn't plan it as such."

"So, should I not plan it?"

"It's up to you," Charlie said. "Whatever feels right."

Ruby nodded.

"I think on our anniversary would be nice," she said. "To... to make an occasion of it. And... I do love him. And I do trust him. And I think we're going to be together for a long time. I mean, forever, I hope but..."

She smiled, feeling glad to have come to a decision about it.

"However it happens," Charlie said. "You have to be safe, okay?"

Ruby nodded.

"Xavier said he'd get... stuff."

Charlie tried not to cringe and focussed on being glad her daughter had a boyfriend who cared so much about her. Ruby grinned.

"You know, you're being much cooler about this than I thought, Mum," she said.

"I am cool!" Charlie insisted, laughing softly.

Ruby flashed another smile, thanked her parents and then bounded upstairs to do her homework.

"You really were cool with that," Joey agreed.

Charlie fell into her arms.

"My baby's growing up!" she squeaked dramatically.

Joey laughed out loud.

"That's my Charlie!" she said.

"Seriously!" Charlie complained. "When did this happen? How can she be ready to have sex?"

"She'll be leaving school next year, sweetheart," Joey said.

"I know! It's terrible!"

Joey pulled her in for a kiss.

"But isn't it wonderful that you've raised her so amazingly well that rather than sneaking about and lying, she's actually prepared to come to us and talk about this kind of thing?" Joey asked.

Charlie nodded and then frowned.

"You do realise that I didn't raise her by myself, don't you?" she questioned.

"I know but..."

"Joey, Ruby's your daughter just as much as mine," Charlie said firmly. "You know that, right?"

"I do," Joey said. "I love her as if I gave birth to her myself. But I guess I see how amazing she is and I struggle to take any kind of credit for it."

"Well, you should take credit," Charlie told her. "Because you're Her Joey and she worships the ground you walk on. And so she should."

Smiling, she leant in and kissed her. Joey wrapped her arms tightly around her partner. Images of their first time together danced delightfully around in her head. Once upon a time, neither girl could ever have imagined being intimate with someone but now they couldn't imagine their lives any other way. They made each other complete.


	34. Chapter 34

_Well, we've come to the end of this story. Little Ruby is all grown up and I hope you have enjoyed reading about Charlie, Joey and Ruby as much as I have enjoyed writing them._

_As ever, with this story ending, I have a new one beginning. It's probably my darkest story yet but (hopefully) in a different kind of way. I will post the first chapter in a moment. It's very short (more of a prologue really) but there will be more in a few days._

_For now, I hope you enjoy the last chapter of Save Me..._

**

* * *

**

Chapter Thirty Four

_One Year Later..._

"How do I look?" Ruby asked, having bounded down the stairs in a fit of excitement.

She was eighteen years old and getting ready for her school prom. Charlie and Joey, both thirty-three now, beamed at her from the couch. They'd taken her shopping for a dress a few weeks ago and now, she looked even more beautiful than she had in the shop.

"Give us a twirl!" Joey encouraged.

Grinning, Ruby did as she was told. Charlie and Joey had treated her to the dress, which was alarmingly expensive. But it made her feel special. She was in a knee length, sleek red gown with one strap.

"You look absolutely gorgeous," Joey said honestly.

Ruby beamed at her.

"Thank you, My Joey!" she said. "Mum, are you still okay to do my hair?"

"Of course," Charlie said.

* * *

Five minutes later, Ruby was in a chair while Charlie stood over her and made her somewhat wild hair, tamer and very pretty. Ruby jumped when there was a knock at the door.

"What? Xavier can't be here already!" she protested. "I'm not ready."

"It's fine," Joey said gently. "Don't panic. I'll let him in and keep him busy till you're done."

She stood and headed into the kitchen to do just as she'd said. Charlie fixed the last clip into Ruby's hair and turned her around. She crouched in front of her and held her hand.

"You look so beautiful, Ruby," she said. "And I am so proud of you."

Ruby blushed and squeezed her Mum's hand.

"Honestly," Charlie said. "No mother could be prouder than Joey and I are. You are the loveliest and most wonderful daughter. You've worked so hard at school and your exam results prove it. You're warm and loving, kind, generous, funny... You're going to go so far in your life and I am so excited to see it."

"You're going to make me cry!" Ruby protested, gently dabbing her eyes.

Charlie chuckled and assured her that the mascara was definitely waterproof. They both stood and Ruby led the way into the kitchen where Xavier, looking shy in a posh suit, was talking to Joey about wanting to buy a car. He stopped mid-sentence and stared at his girlfriend.

"You look incredible!" she said.

"This old thing?" Ruby giggled. "I just threw it on."

Charlie snorted and stood beside Joey, putting her arm around her.

"Are you ready to go?" Xavier asked. "Everyone else is in the limo."

Ruby nodded, waved at her parents and headed out of the house.

"I'm so proud of her," Charlie cooed.

She was just about to lean in and kiss Joey when Ruby bounded, a little inelegantly, back into the house. She hurried round the table and gathered Charlie and Joey into a hug.

"I love you guys," she said before dashing out again, ready to enjoy her night.

Charlie continued to grin as she began to make drinks for her and Joey. Gone were the days when she was afraid of Ruby going out by herself. She trusted her and she trusted Xavier, who had been a loving and loyal boyfriend since they were barely teenagers. Last year, Ruby had decided she was ready to lose her virginity. Charlie had worried at first but Ruby had shown enough maturity to talk to her parents properly first and make sure she was safe. It hadn't been easy to accept that her daughter was growing up but Joey had been wonderfully supportive, knowing that it had to happen sometime. Since then, Ruby had worked very hard at school and secured herself a place at University. It was local but they had agreed she would live in halls of residence so that she could have the full student experience. Xavier, Annie and Jai were all going with her and she'd promised to come home every weekend with her washing. Charlie knew she would miss having Ruby around the place, but it also meant that she and Joey would have the place to themselves and it was something they were both looking forward to. As if on cue, Joey stood behind Charlie and wrapped her arms around her waist, kissing her shoulder.

"I hope she has a good time tonight," Charlie said. "She deserves it."

Joey nodded and turned Charlie around in her arms.

"I think we're going to have a pretty special night too," she said.

Charlie grinned. Joey moved forward and stopped her from getting to work on the coffee.

"I have a surprise for you," she said.

On cue, there was a knock on the door. Charlie watched as a delivery man appeared with Chinese takeaway. Joey paid him and shut the door. She took the bag and then Charlie's hand and led her outside and into the back garden where she had somehow found the time to lay a beautiful table in the warm night air.

"Sorry it had to be takeaway," she said. "I had time to lay a table without you noticing. But cooking a meal? Not so much."

Charlie giggled as Joey pulled a chair out for her and sat her down. She pulled a lighter from her pocket, lit the candle in the centre of the table and then began to serve their dinner. From an ice bucket on their swing bench, she produced a bottle of wine.

* * *

"Thank you for such a perfect night," Charlie said, once they had eaten and finished the wine.

"It's not over yet," Joey replied.

She stood up and hurried into the house. Charlie watched her go, not quite able to resist checking her out. She definitely had an admirable figure. Joey reappeared with an expensive looking bottle of champagne.

"Ooh, what have I done to deserve this?" Charlie asked happily.

Joey put the bottle down and remained standing, looking more than a little terrified.

"Joey?" Charlie said when her girlfriend didn't say anything.

Joey took a deep breath and took Charlie's hand.

"From the first moment I met you, I knew how special you were. And then when you threw up on me and I didn't mind, I knew it must be love!"

They both giggled.

"You have changed my whole life. I was a mess before I met you but you've given me everything I've ever wanted and more. You saved me, Charlie. And I love you more and more as each day passes."

She swallowed uncertainly but felt encouraged by the fact she had Charlie's rapt attention. Charlie's eyes widened as Joey sank onto one knee. Shakily, Joey dug into her pocket and pulled out a jewellery box. She just about opened it and produced a beautiful diamond ring.

"Charlie, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will!" Charlie said without hesitation. "Of course."

They smiled happily at each other. Charlie sank onto her knees also and pulled Joey into her arms, holding her tight. They kissed passionately and rested their foreheads together. Joey slipped the ring onto Charlie's finger.

"Is it okay?" Joey asked, referencing the ring.

"It's perfect," Charlie replied. "You're perfect. I love you so much, Joey. More than I could ever tell you. I don't know if I saved you like you think I did..."

"You did."

"But I do know for sure that you saved me," Charlie continued. "When I met you, I was at my lowest ebb. I felt like the world was ending and nothing would ever get better. I was a victim. I couldn't bear to be a mother. And you... you brought me to life. You helped me start again and rebuild myself. I never ever want to live a single day without you."

Joey tried not to be embarrassed at her tears. She leant in and kissed her, holding her close.

"Maybe we saved each other," she suggested.

"I think we definitely did."

_

* * *

_

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I've never done this before but in response to some reviews I received (thank you!), I did change the ending. I hadn't considered a proposal until people started asking for it but now I've written it, I think it was the right direction to go with. I hope you agree! Love, IJKS xxx


End file.
